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JetBlue crew tells burlesque dancer to cover up before she can fly

Posted at 2:22 PM, May 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-31 14:22:17-04

SEATTLE - A burlesque dancer says she wasn't allowed to fly from Boston back home to Seattle because of what she was wearing.

Maggie McMuffin - her stage name - was wearing a sweater, shorts and thigh-high socks but wasn't allowed on the JetBlue flight until she covered up. She flew into Boston wearing the same outfit with no problems. Maggie believes the decision is connected to body shaming and misogyny.

"My problem with this is that it's entirely subjective. And when we start making women's bodies subjective we get into a lot of shaky areas as a society,” said Maggie McMuffin, Seattle. “And I feel this is just a small indicator of that."

She says the crew thought her shorts could be offensive to other fliers.

If there were clearly stated rules surrounding the dress code, Maggie says she would have had no issue changing clothes.

In a statement, JetBlue says “We support our crewmembers’ discretion to make these difficult decisions, and we decided to reimburse the customer for the cost of the new shorts and offered a credit for future flight as a goodwill gesture."