A female JetBlue passenger has spoken out after she was left feeling humiliated when flight attendants period-shamed her when they questioned her for wanting to use the lavatory after just boarding a delayed flight.
The woman wrote on the popular frequent flyer discussion board FlyerTalk how a male flight attendant initially prevented her from using the lavatory, claiming the flush didn’t work on the ground before demanding to know why she needed to use the toilet.
The male flight attendant appeared annoyed the passenger didn’t use a restroom in the terminal building during a three-hour boarding delay and demanded the woman justify her reason for needing to use the airplane lavatory.
After repeating the same question two or three times, the woman eventually relented and admitted that she was menstruating. “He looked disgusted and said I didn’t need to say all that,'” the woman wrote.
“I agreed I shouldn’t have needed to say that but felt forced to discuss this private matter because I was repeatedly asked the question while he was blocking my way to the bathroom,” she explained.
Later on, the woman went to use the lavatory for a second time and encountered the same flight attendant in the vicinity of the restroom. She says she challenged him over his “inappropriate” questioning but he allegedly became hostile and claimed she was “harassing” him.
“At this point, I got spooked and went inside the bathroom,” the woman recalls. “When I came out, a female flight attendant was there and started asking me why I was harassing her flight attendant”.
“Hoping that she would be more sympathetic and help him understand why that line of questioning and his reaction were so inappropriate, I started telling her the entire story,” the woman continued,
“When I got to the period part, she looked disgusted and said, ‘TMI, you really didn’t need to say that to him. Didn’t you think that would make him uncomfortable?'”
Feeling shocked and humiliated, the woman was then told she would be reported to the Captain for harassing the flight attendants. To avoid causing a scene, the woman says she took her seat but followed up with gate agents once the plane had landed – and at this point, realized that the flight attendant’s name supplied to her during the flight was fake.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a 2018 survey found that 58 percent of women have felt a sense of embarrassment simply because they were on their period, and 42 percent have experienced period shaming.
Talking about periods remains taboo in many cultures and recent research continues to find that women are made to feel embarrassed by being on their period.
JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
That is on the verge of a HIPAA violation in some ways but I do wonder what the rest of the story is on this one.
What answer could she possibly given that would NOT have been TMI? Then the “boss” FA accusing before she even talks to the passenger? Hmmm…. I wonder if they ask the gents why they need to use the lavatory prior to take off?
@Would ya rather I leave a mess sir/madam? Smh
This is crazy she should sue for defimation of character and discrimination because this is going to keep happening until someone stands up to them and fights back this is so sad no women should have to go thru this it is not no1s business why she needs to use the bathroom I no the feeling because I have a condition we’re I can’t hold my bowls so when I need to go I need to go and I have been in this situation alot of times and it is not fair I have to explain myself to people all the time of why I need to use the bathroom all the time this is unfair and something needs to be done about it thank you
Even with a fake name, there can be only a very limited # of male FA’s working that flight’s class of service with the same physical description.
Sorry, a stretch…but the poor, rude, invasive conduct of this FA and his supervisor should be addressed. Immediately. Re-training at the very least.