Representation of Gender and Professional Identity

Visiual Politics of Coorporate Uniforms in the Airline Industry

Resumen

This study examines corporate uniforms in the civil aviation sector as visual and ideological tools that construct corporate identity, professional hierarchy, and gender roles. Adopting a qualitative multi-case visual analysis, the research analyzes promotional videos, social media content, campaign visuals, and uniform designs from five airline companies between 2008 and 2024. Drawing on representation theory (Hall), gender performativity (Butler), dramaturgy (Goffman), and symbolic capital (Bourdieu), the study explores how uniforms mediate institutional values and social norms. The findings reveal that uniforms function as strategic communicative devices that both reproduce and transform gendered professional identities. While traditional visual codes, such as color schemes, tailoring, and styling, continue to signal femininity and masculinity, there is a growing hybridization of gendered attributes. Emotional labor and communicative skills, historically feminized, and authority and technical competence, traditionally masculinized, are increasingly expected across all roles. This shift is further shaped by the rising visibility of female pilots, male cabin crew, and customer-oriented branding strategies.