For a long time, women are expected to be emotional, have long hair, wear make-up clean the home, take care of the children, and are often assumed to be teachers and nurses. While men are the ones expected to be aggressive, have short hair, be more muscular, do home repairs, and are the ones assumed to be pilots, doctors, and engineers.
But here are three women who broke these gender roles and stereotypes and dared to enter the field of aviation and succeeded.
Aimee Carandang
Maria Aurora Carandang-Gloria, also known as Aimee Carandang, has flown high since 1993 when she became the first Filipina commercial pilot and the first Asian female pilot. She is the country’s first Filipina pilot to fly as a full-fledged captain for Philippine Airlines. Her first flight as a captain was from Manila to Baguio on a Fokker 50 carrier. And because of her, the number of lady pilots continuously grew.
Brooke Castillo
Captain Catherine Marie “Brooke” Castillo became the first Filipina to fly a commercial airline jet in 1996 and 2003 the first Filipina to captain a jet. After being sent to France in 2007 by Cebu Pacific to train, she became the first Filipina certified airbus instructor. Besides flying a plane, she is a woman of many talents, she is also a classical pianist, a rock band manager, an elite sportswoman, and a teacher. With First Officer Mayra Florencia, she made history by flying an all-female crew.
Jessica Cox
Cox, a Filipino-American pilot, is the first armless person to fly a plane and receive a flying license in aviation history. Due to a rare birth defect, she was born without arms. But her disability does not limit the things she can do, she can also drive a car, play the piano, and earn two black belts in taekwondo. She now travels the world to be a motivational speaker and uses her own life as an example that everything is possible if one wants it.
These are only a few women in the aviation industry that did what men did. Being a woman did not hinder them from succeeding in the field that is known to be for a man. Just remember that gender is not a reason to stop yourself from dreaming, being the person you want to be, and flying high in the sky.
