How did you react to the men featured in the story? Were they helpful or harmful to the women's cause?

How did you react to the men featured in the story? Were they helpful or harmful to the women's cause?

In general, I didn't pay much attention to them as either helpful or harmful to the women. I was as amazed at their bravery and ambition as I was by the women's. The field of aviation was new to them all and each of them were individuals trying to harness the force of gravity and overcome it and soar as high as they could, as fast and as far as they could.

At first I thought another good ole boys club, but then when some of the men let these women flyers borrow or gave planes to then, I changes my mind. Those men probably took a ribbing from the men pilots, nothing was mentioned in the book about that. When the women pilots crashed, I couldn't imagine how the men felt. So in some ways it was harmful, but for those who succeeded it was pretty obvious airplane sales increased. The Beech's definitely make a lot of money and still due today, my favorite was the Beech Bonanza Twin engine airplane.

Although the women were either celebrated as brave or daring they were always described by their looks. They were also condescended to or thought stupid, not capable of succeeding without a man. The airlines wanted to use women for publicity but didn't really trust them to fly their planes.

Of course there was some of everything and at times I felt like the author went out of his way to emphasize the negative attitudes of the male dominated industry, but in general I found all of the stories to be compelling. I especially appreciated the back stories that provided context; e.g. how Chip Henderson traveled with the first transcontinental semi-truck to deliver soap to California. The book was filled with such rich detail which added color and insight.

As with most achievements of women there was a mixture of both.

I agree with dianaps that some men were helpful, and some weren’t. But it wasn’t a clear cut thing - some men had money to spare and supported the women with a plane or money, but others couldn’t offer financial support for risky adventures. Some men ridiculed the women and thought they couldn’t tackle flying on their own, didn’t have the mental acuity or that they should just stay home.

The very title of the book: Fly GIRLS showed what most of the men thought of the women pilots. They were girls, not women and as usual the men were men not boys. However this never stopped the women pilots from forging ahead.
True, there were some men who had a vision and leant their planes to the female pilots, but for the most part the women were used for publicity not for their talents and contributions.

This question made me realize that I truly did not focus on the men as I read. Maybe this was because their behavior isn't so different from now; some men are helpful and treat women as equals or are willing to do what they can to help a woman achieve her goals while others think of men as always being in charge.

As some have responded, I didn't really pay attention to the men and whether they were hurtful or harmful. I was generally disturbed by the fact that women in the beginning could only ride along, if at all. But, that was the times and we can't re-write history.