Many companies and businesses have dress codes and rules that they want their customers and their employees to follow. Sometimes, they can threaten to not serve people or even remove them when they do not abide by their dress codes.
However, many companies also have seen immense controversy for policies like these, especially when it pertains to women and their bodies .
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Recently, one woman was told to leave a flight due to her outfit, and now is speaking out about the incident.
Ray Lin Howard was getting onto a flight with her family from Seattle to Fairbanks, Alaska, thinking she was going to have a pretty normal and common trip in the air.
However, things escalated quickly when the airline seemed to have a problem with her outfit.
Howard said she was on the Alaska Airlines flight and was harassed by the employees.
During the flight, Howard said she was experiencing nausea due to turbulence and removed her shirt to cool off, knowing she was wearing a sports bra underneath—much like many women wear to the gym.
However, the flight attendant was not okay with her decision.
Howard said the flight attendant told her the sports bra wasn’t appropriate.
“I was approached five minutes after that by the first flight attendant, telling me that I needed to put a shirt on and that just the sports bra alone was inappropriate,” she told BuzzFeed News.
But, they had another problem with her shirt, too.
“[I put] the shirt back on, and it stayed on the rest of the flight…but I was approached again — about my outfit again — [by a flight attendant] saying that my stomach was showing and that midriffs aren’t allowed to be showing on Alaska Airlines flights,” she said.
After the flight had landed, attendants asked everyone to remain seated as police officers entered the plane.
Howard was then escorted off the plane by officers, who claimed she “wasn’t” in trouble.
But, in the end, she found out that flight attendants had told the officers as a passenger was “refusing to keep her clothes on,” which, she knew was a complete lie.
She was then questioned by officers about what happened.
She explained that she was harassed by the flight attendants for her outfit and told it violated the “dress code.”
When she asked for a copy of the dress code, the flight attendants told her to “Google it.” She was clearly not happy with these outcomes.
Alaska Airline’s website has their dress code available online.
“The requirement is simply a neat and well-groomed appearance.
Clothing that is soiled or tattered and bare feet are never acceptable. You are expected to use good judgment, but customer service agents will have the final authority to refuse travel for inappropriate attire or appearance,” the website reads.
After the incident and video went viral online, Alaska Airlines issued a statement.
“We’re in contact with the guest. We’re committed to finding out what happened and taking the appropriate actions. It’s our goal to provide caring service to all of our guests. When we don’t live up to that goal, we do everything we can to make it right,” the company told BuzzFeed.
However, Howard said this is a bigger issue.
“I think they didn’t like seeing a fat person dressed the way I am — I was kind of slut-shamed and fat-shamed at the same time. It’s crazy to try to tell people that midriffs are against the dress code when that isn’t true,” she said.
What do you think about all this? Let us know down below!
