Hola,
Just wanted to get some honest feed back about how men feel about having women serve as FF. Please be very honest! The reason for this is:
1. I have witnessed society feels women can't do this job- we are to fragile , etc.
2. People think women that work around a bunch of men must be easy or having relations with at least one of the them
3. Sexual harrassment issues arise more often
4. Some men have trouble taking orders from a woman (or vice versa)
These are just a few of the things I have seen or heard about.. Please share y you feel this way
Stop asking for approval to do the job! We all have something to bring to the table regardless of our stature. Come to work with a positive attitude and don't get complacent. In my experience, if you show that you are willing to pull your own weight and work hard, you will earn the respect of your co-workers. Another note, if you don't like guys being guys, you should find another profession. Here's a novel idea.... if you don't like what they are talking about, walk away. A requirement for the job should include a great sense of humor and a thick skin. I'm grateful for everyday I have at the station and hope that over time I prove myself to be an asset to the department.
I'm in a volunteer dept. and being female has helped on a couple cases such as when a wife needed comfort after her husband committed suicide. I think she appreciated having another woman to hold onto.
And my crew has designated me as the one to deal with any medical calls involving pregnancy or other "female issues." They say they'll send me in and they'll, uh, wait by the engine and direct the ambulance or something "important" like that. ; )
hola VIFirewoman!! I have seen and had my fair share of men critise me being in the Firefighting field. When i went through the fire academy back in 2004 i was told by several people that i wouldn't make it. I am 4'11 pretty dang short. But to say the least i proved them all wrong by passing all testa and physical agilities, training. I still get hell from some people but not like i did years ago.. i have proven myself to them and others at the dept im with. i take no slack off of others. women have every right to do this job as long as you prove yourself. to be quite honest im just as bad as the guys at the station. they dont mess with me because they know what ill do to them...lol
oh and by the way im engaged to one of the guys in my dept. ans yes respect is earned over time along with being a valuable asset. have a good day. be safe.
I personally think that the guys that have a problem with it can stop being such babies and suck it up. I have alot of problems with this in my firehouse. i fight about it almost every other week. and its pretty sad because me and the other active female firefighter run circles around most of our male firefighter.
I have no problem with women in the fire service. As long as you can do the job ths same way as the men. We have a woman on our fire department and she is great. She is better than some of the men on our fire department she is just great. But she is willing to do anything that the men can do. There is a local fire department near me and they allow women on the fire department but to get on they get to take a much easier physical exam than the men and i don't think that is right. I want to know that if im going to go in to a burning building i want to know that the person backing me up is able to get me out should anything happen. Male or Female.
We have several women on the department who perform quite well...and I think they keep us in line, too!
If it weren't for them, we guys would probably be total slobs.
My wife and youngest daughter are both FF's They have all the Heart in the world and will do whatever it takes to make sure our crew is safe. Proud to serve with them.
The only problem is in peoples heads !
There's a opinion that firefighting is a macho thing, that only men can be heroes and save lives.
For women they would reserve jobs like dispatching, medical help or some secondary jobs in firefighters domain.
In my FD there's still no women, but for me there would be no problem to work or take orders from women. She or he there's no difference until they do their job following professional rules.