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
it should not matter who you are or what you are man / or woman if you believe you can handle the position or task at hand JUST GO FOR IT in fact we have a few women in our fire dept and i stand right beside them in every situation that life hands us and they have never once backed down or said that it is to tough there trained to do just as we are we stand beside each other as equals and that is the way it should be because you never know who might be the one saving you and just because it may be a woman are you gonig to refuse help
We have 5 women on our dept. And I'll tell you they try very hard at there jobs. They get down and dirty at the scene. They will BS with us just like they are one of the guys. Granted some of them can not lift as much or do as much as most men but they sure do try there hardest. I say as long as they do there job I have no problem with it. More power to them.
Well, voicing here is as good as digging up the old topics and having 3 or 4 "women in the fire service" discussions up front. The forums should be revamped to work more like firehouse.com just for that reason.
I have absolutely no problem with women in the fire service. Especially with civil service laws. Take the same test, pass the same CPAT. Hell I wouldn't care if we hired an ape, if he/she could pass the entry test, CPAT and not fling poo during his O-board.
There was an interesting series of articles about LAFD (sorry if someone has brought this up already, I'm to lazy to search). Their city council wants to hire more females. They recruit more females, help females study for the test, start paying females to train for the CPAT before they are hired. All these efforts fail. What is worst is that in a department where less than something like 2% are female, they hold over half the lawsuits against the city. There are investigations whether the CPAT standards have been lowered, or extra attempts given to the females. It is all political BS, trying to give the city an image of equality.
I dont have a problem with women in the fire service ,that is if they can do the job. I wouldnt want a female firefighter to go into a structure and then bail out when things got a little hot . I also would like for them to get the job because they wanted too, not because they were female.
do you train as often as you can? do you put safety first? are you doing your best to stay up with new standards, trends and technology? are you being the best firefighter you can be? Are you committed, dedicated, passionate and honest?
Permalink Reply by Ricky on February 15, 2008 at 11:33pm
To me if a woman can pass the qualifications in the dept she should be a FF, as a matter of fact my best friend is a female and she is a FF in my city and is a good one. So if women want to be FF let them.
I have avoided weighing in on this topic since I joined several months ago, but for some reason I think I will this time.
So here are my experiences with women firefighters.
I have worked with about 10 women in my nearly 25 years in the fir e service and they range from phenominal to pathetic. But of the 300 or so male firefighters the percentage is similar.
1. Physically, I have worked with one who couldnt get past the claustrophobia that crippled her ability to do the job. But, I was ordered to get her thru the academy...to this day I wish I had resisted that order. She was pathetic...and it wasnt her deficiencies, it was her "I am Woman hear me roar" attitude. Useless.
2. I have worked with one who would do any guy in the house...and often did to include the married ones. She however held those who didnt play her game hostage. Hows that...lets say I was blackballed by an Assistant chief who was one of her buddies. She gave women in general a bad name.
3. Same girl, held the Chief hostage with her games...glad she got married pregnant and left the fire service...sad thing is she could do the job.
4. that is BS some men have problems taking orders period. They have no issues taking orders from wifey. Of course at work they are HeMan...But at home their man parts were locked away sowmehere by the wife. So to say men have issues taking orders from a woman, well its crap.
OK so I have worked withone who Id follow to hell and back, one I wouldnt p*ss on if her guts were on fire...(sorry, jsut how it is) and several I have no issues with.
Id say 3 were below average, two were outstanding and the other 5 were average. Sounds like the general population...right.
Provided a female can do the job, then what's the issue?
Having said that, what I do have an issue wit his the lowering of the standards (entrance physicals, etc) as has been seen here in Oz for many emergency services.
I also have an issue when the unspoken quota that is set for female recruitment and perfectly fine male candidates are overlooked and miss out due to the unspoken quota to hire females.
So, then; we all agree.
As long as women can pass the tests that are created by men, then they can be in the fire service.
As long as they can wear equipment designed by men for men, they can join.
And as long as another rest room doesn't have to be built at the station, no problem.
LOL.
I'm just messin' witcha.
Made you think, though.
TCSS.
Art