Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a women firefighter; the problems, the stress, the trauma? Well to even begin to answer that question, first, you need to know what a firefighter is to begin with.
Everyone has their own interpretation of what a firefighter is or does. The dictionaries definition says, “A person who is trained to put fires out, rescue people from fires, educate the public about fire prevention, and help people in other emergencies.” My definition of a firefighter growing up was a person who runs through burning building and found people who are screaming and crying, to save them. Now growing up with the desire to become a firefighter my definition has changed to someone, a women or man, who not only thinks about themselves but about the lives and loved ones of others. Whether it is rescuing people from a burning building, caring for their medical needs, extinguishing fires in a house, large building, or in a vehicle, this profession is about helping others.
So the question arises once more, what are the issues women firefighters face today? It is an easy question to answer as the issues are the same as they have been for the past 30-plus years that women have been trying to serve in one of the oldest and most dangerous professions. Imagine a job where prejudice and harassment is a frequent complaint, you don't have your own changing rooms or toilets, and, to top it all, your life is constantly put at risk.
When some people think about a firefighter, they instinctively think fireman. That is why when the question arises of a woman becoming a firefighter, they immediately think, "She can’t do it. She is not strong enough. It is a man’s job. It is too much work." The decision imm...
... middle of paper ...
...nsequence for their actions, and thus this problem has yet to continue and to rise.
On the other hand, women have proven that they can perform firefighting work, including nearly all of the physical work, as effectively as men. They have not disrupted the bonding and mutual dependence required for a firefighting unit to work effectively and professionally. While women have overcome these objections to prove that they could perform firefighting work, women nonetheless continue to face indirect forms of discrimination. While women may find it easier than men to get a job as a firefighter because of their higher test scores, they continue to face subtle forms of resentment and discrimination. As a result, discourages larger numbers of women from entering the field. This causes some to develop stress and give up on their desire to take firefighting up as a career.
Have you ever felt discriminated against in the workplace? Usually, women are the most common people that are mistreated in the workplace. There are many reasons why women are discriminated against, but none of them are excuses for women for not being successful. Women face sexism by getting less pay than men, not getting promoted as equally as men, and facing other gender stereotypes, but sexism can be solved by women confronting their internal and external barriers and finding people that can help women.
World War II was the catalyst that changed the opportunities available to women and eventually the way they were regarded as a viable workforce. Suddenly women throughout the United States were pushing themselves to their limits to support the war effort. Women were fulfilling jobs and responsibilities that many previously believed to be impossible for their gender. Opportunities were opened in steel plants, ammunition factories, and even the United States military. As the war progressed the number of male workers declined dramatically. Society had no choice but to turn to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of our nation for help. The results for each woman varied but the nation was to be forever changed in how it looked at women in the work force. Although employment opportunities after the war were significantly reduced for women due to the return of the male soldiers, the effort and abilities women displayed during these difficult times had far reaching effects. Women's actions in small communities like the Hunter Chemical Plant in Huntsville, Alabama and Bridge and Steel Industrial Plant in Mt Vernon, Ohio changed the way men viewed their physical abilities. The creation of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) resulted in changing the way the government viewed women as a viable asset and led the way for the women who serve proudly in today's military. In this paper I will address the change in the attitudes of society and the way small communities and the government itself viewed the physical capabilities of women.
When it comes to combat assignments and the needs of the military, men take precedence over all other considerations, including career prospects of female service members. Female military members have been encouraged to pursue opportunities and career enhancement within the armed forces, which limit them only to the needs and good of the service due to women being not as “similarly situated” as their male counterparts when it comes to strength or aggressiveness, and are not able to handle combat situations.
Historically, women have been excluded from combat roles. On the surface, it is because men, who have always thought of themselves better and stronger than women, believed that females could not handle the responsibility of holding a combat position and women are rupturing the socially constructed gender norms that were set in place. According to Nicole Dombrowski, “no other topic concerning women’s role in war creates as great a debate as the question of women’s active participation in combat units.” The benefits for the expansion of women’s roles in the military advantage not only the women but the military as well. In comparison, the drawbacks of expansion of women’s roles are usually disadvantages to the men within the military.
The gender integration in the military has always faced questions of social acceptance, weather society can accept how women will be qualified and respected in the military as today. As of today, the decision has been made and allowed women to fill about 220,000 jobs that are now limited to men which includes infantry, armor, reconnaissance and some special operations units. The recruitment numbers of women have been increasing since than which reflects the importance of severing as role model for future women to join infantry and other ground combat jobs which they have been prohibited from. Women have extensively served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, but discrimination still continues till today. The military requirements are physical tests and standards such as long deployments aboard ships, exceptions for infantry which male units perform better than women. Women’s acknowledgement has not really changed which stated by Carter “ He said there are “physical differences on average” between men and women and that “thus far, we’ve only seen small numbers of women qualify to meet our high physical standards” for some units “ (Bradner, p. 3).There are not many exceptions for women fulfilling the needs to open opportunity jobs in the military but with little hope which men inhale the endurance and strength that are not viewed towards
The problem of women fighting in combat along with their male counterparts is not a one-sided problem. Elizabeth Hoisington has earned the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, leads the Women’s Army Corps and believes that women should not serve in combat because they are not as physically, mentally, or emotionally qualified as a male is and that ...
Although women in law enforcement has increased within the past 20-30 years, the struggle to be fully accepted and held to the same standard as a male continues, and this is mainly due to barriers such as the attitudes of male officers. Many policemen continue to express negative views of female officers such as the perception of being less physically capable, mentally and emotional feeble, and unable to earn the trust and respect of citizens. (Davis, 2005) There are many beliefs that because men have maintained the lead role in law enforcement, allowing more women to carry out the same duties demystifies the masculine persona that has always gone hand in hand with policing. There remains the stigma that males have always had the protective role, not a female, and this way of thinking continues to be difficult to deter from. On the other hand, although it is not fact, many police authorities would agree that policewomen are better empathizers and sympathizers in cases concerning women and children - - as mentioned before, and that they tend to approach situations with a unique perspective; bringing different ideas and virtues to the table. For example, most female officers who are petite in stature, know they are unable to stop a physical confrontation, so in order to prevent the occurrence of a fight, will resort to communication to calm the situation. Not to say that males do not have compassion, but there is the maternal quality about females that juveniles feel more comfortable talking to rather than a big scary guy in uniform. (Miller, 2012) In other ways, female officers receive more respect than a male officer might. Patrol Officer Denelle Craul, of East Pennsboro Police Department believes, “Men are taught to respec...
Women bring unique skills and techniques to policing such as: compassion and understanding during undesirable and traumatic incidents. Although, women do not possess the muscles or physical strength as the male officers, they do have effective invaluable interpersonal skills. Females are viewed as threats by their male peers. Women face prejudice, peer bullying, and sometimes sexual harassment during their career in law enforcement (Criminal Justice School Info, 2014). The male officers believe that women have unfair advantages when it comes to getting promotions or advancements. In actuality, a lot of women in law enforcement are afraid to apply for higher positions due to fear of maltreatment by the male officers. Women who work in law enforcement often feel as if they must “prove themselves” beca...
There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction.
These studies may suggest that in male-dominated fields there are typically unwelcoming environments for women. Male-dominated fields include such prestigious professions such as engineering, building trades, architecture, lawyers, physicians, and corporate managers (Macionis, 2015). This may result in inequality between men and women as women face the additional challenges of sexism and stereotype threat to succeed in professions in which men
The general standard is that you must be between the age of 18 and 29, although some fire departments extend the maximum age requirement past the age of 30. If you meet the age requirement, the next in the list of requirements to become a firefighter is that you have a high school diploma or the equivalent. You must also be a U.S. citizen to become a firefighter. You must pass a background check and in some instances, a drug screening as part of the requirements to be a firefighter. If you have a criminal history, or fail the drug test, you will most likely be disqualified from becoming a firefighter.”( https://www.firerecruit.com/, by FireRescue1
This task wasn’t easy and they did endure a lot of hardship. They created groups such as the Women’s Peace Officers Association which helped acknowledge discrimination and created ways to stop it. Another way female officers are dealing with discrimination in law enforce is by reporting cases and filing discrimination lawsuits. Most of the time these cases have resulted in court ordered decrees, which requires the law enforcement agencies to change their policies. This mean that police department much change their course of action regarding the hiring or promotion process. The women who have made these efforts and attempts may still have endured discrimination but they paved the way for future female
There are many different ways in which women are discriminated against in the workplace. The exclusion of women altogether solely due to their gender is a now rare example of how women are discriminated against. Although women have gained overall access to the workplace, sex discrimination still persists in additional ways. There multiple examples of potentially unlawful gender discrimination that women face. Hiring and firing are the first two problems women often face within the workplace. An example of this is woman applying for a job in which they have experience and excellent qualifications, but are not hired because some of the company's clients are more comfortable dealing with men. Woman often get told that they are laid off or fired due to company cutbacks and reorganization, even though a man in the same job with less seniority than the woman gets to keep the job.
...d women’s biological purpose has provided men a source of comparative advantage in work. It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participative and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market.
I have heard quite a few men say that women cannot do the job because they are not strong enough. Being a Firefighter today takes more brains then 20 years ago. The ability to be a clear thinker is one of the biggest assets a firefighter must have today.