Women in the Fire Service

In my opinion, there are 3 different types of women in the fire service:

Option 1- The 'chick' firefighter- This is a highschool/college age girl who is there because her daddy is the fire chief or something to that effect, and she won't let you forget who her dad is, either. She shows up for no calls, but still buys pink nomex because its 'cute'. She has no training, doesn't want it, and wears too much makeup. She hangs out with the guys to flirt and when out on any type of detail, stops to put on another coat of lipgloss. Draws her department name in bubble letters in her notebooks. Keeps her fingernails long and painted. Doesn't like to get hands dirty. A total princess. Can't really call her a firefighter.

Option 2- The 'female' firefighter- Less 'OMG LOL' than the 'chick' firefighter. Demands constant accomodations for her gender, female specific gear, has pink rescue gloves. Screams 'you have no idea how hard it is to be a female firefighter' to gain sympathy in arguements. Corrects people when they address the group with 'Hey guys'. Look at her funny and she'll make a complaint. Might bring her kids to station to terrorize people. Wears pink and light blue female-specific fire/ems shirts, especially "PROUD FEMALE FIREFIGHTER" ones. Goes on some calls, not many, and mostly stays by the truck. Heeps her hair in a ponytail. Gets hands dirty but complains for a week. A 'female firefighter'.

Option 3- The firefighter- She makes more calls than you, she could kill you by dropping her book of certifications on your head. No pink gear, her rescue gloves are just smaller than yours. She hates it when people get politically correct, shes one of the guys and she loves it. Cracks dirtier jokes than the guys. She trains constantly, and strives to do everything better. Doesn't want to be seen as a female. People come to her for advice because she's androgenous enough to give both girl advice AND guy advice. Shows up to station for a call with no makeup, because the fire doesn't care if her skin is bad. Not only gets her hands dirty, but gets in there before anyone else. Not a princess. A firefighter. No prefix needed.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on February 22, 2010 at 10:48am

Puhleeeze...can you say "Search Function"? Amazingly, Firefighter Nation has one.

While you're at it, it might interest you to know that the female firefighter you're lecturing regarding literacy has a side gig as a Harvard University grad student.

Feel free to feel embarassed.

Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on February 22, 2010 at 10:51am

You are the "only" call running female??? The thousands of females who happen to be firefighters, who run calls, and who don't fall into your arbitrary categories tell us that statement isn't accurate.

And...what does "wam" mean? If you're going to lecture on literacy, it helps to practice it.

Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on February 22, 2010 at 10:51am

Oh, so now we have three arbitrary categories of male firefighters to go with the three arbitrary female firefighter categories? :-)

Permalink Reply by Greenman on February 22, 2010 at 11:05am

Only in wry commentary to show how foolish the three arbitrary female categories are.

Of course there are no real categories like these. :-)

Greenman

Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on February 22, 2010 at 11:10am

At least you spelled "wry" correctly. Score one for literacy. :-)
Nice work.

Permalink Reply by N. Stewart on February 22, 2010 at 4:27pm

This was all sparked by a phenomenon in my area. Chicks who know nothing about firefighting, don't really care about it, and never intend to do anything with it, are joining departments because it ends up the state will pay their college tuition at the local community college if they do. So they get their name on the roster, have the department buy them thousands of dollars worth of gear(not paid for by the state, but out of department funds), and it sits there while they go to school. Then they never really quit, just stop showing up, and end up getting kicked out and then they complain about it. Also the group that has started teaching younger females to show their cleavage to the state troopers to get free boxes of flares.

Permalink Reply by FETC on February 22, 2010 at 4:46pm

Well I must say these categories could be seen as "harsh" by other (fellow) female firefighters. I am sure most of us who have served long enough have their own categories for some of the elite opposite sex firefighters, but we tend to keep it to our ourselves.

Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on February 22, 2010 at 5:22pm