Freedom in the skies?

I was reading an article titled "Generation Faithful- In Booming Gulf, Some Arab Women Find Freedom in the Skies" in the New York Times, and didn't know what conclusion I should draw from it. The article is about young, unmarried Arab women have now found a career that lets them see the world. Yes, good, but it seems as if these women fit the archaic {albeit American} view of what a being a flight attendant means.

I get it. Being a flight attendant allows these Arab women to face new freedoms, but how much exactly? I can't claim that I understand any of this. I certainly don't. My view is very much an Americanized view of Women's Rights, but I can only imagine that these women who have decided to follow their ambitions and beliefs, have also alienated their families and their home countries. Is this a cost that Arab women are willing to take?

Being flight attendants, these women seem to become pigeonholed in two different ways:

"Some young women cope with their new lives away from home by becoming almost nunlike, keeping to themselves and remaining very observant Muslims, she said, while others quickly find themselves in the arms of unsuitable men. “With the Arabic girls who come to work here, you get two types,” the Egyptian woman said. “They’re either very closed up and scared and they don’t do anything, or else they’re not really thinking about flying — they’re just here to get their freedom. They’re really naughty and crazy.”"

I don't know. What are your thoughts? Steps ahead? Or steps backward?