Firefighters – they’re pretty impressive aren’t they? Even the moniker oozes cool but for women in the profession, it comes with a dark downside.
Despite literally saving lives, female firefighters are often met with ignorant comments regarding their gender.
To shed some light on the everyday lives of women in the force, some female firefighters around Somerset have opened up about their experience.
The blaze tacklers have spoken out about fighting misconceptions over their roles in the hope it might encourage others to join the service.
Most are the first – and only – members of their sex at their stations – which can bring its own unique challenges.
Katherine Shaw, 26, signed up to work on-call last year – meaning she has to be ready to go for 84 hours a week.
She loves the job and said she has never struggled with prejudice from colleagues, but has received a few comments from members of the public.
She said: ‘Within the service, it’s such old news that girls are part of it.
‘We’re not really like male and female – we’re just people that are interested in saving lives and helping the community
‘It’s more shock from the public – you tell somebody you’re in training and what you’ve done.
‘They struggle with what to call you. It’s usually ‘fireman, oh, ooh, err…”. It really doesn’t matter – [call us] anything.’
‘It’s shock, like, “oh you can’t do that, how do you do all that lifting and manage that physical stuff”.
Katherine has even been told she’s ‘too pretty’ to be a firefighter.
She added: ‘I was in a church doing a memorial service. This woman said “you’re a firefighter? You can’t do that – you’ll ruin your face!”
‘There’s been lots [of comments]. It shouldn’t stop anybody – they don’t mean it with any malice. They just can’t believe it.
‘People are shocked because they haven’t been exposed to it. That might be wrong, but that’s my opinion.
‘Growing up, cartoons, movies and books – everything you are exposed to – it’s the woman that needed helping and the men who needed to fix it.
‘Now, there’s loads of stuff out that’s showing that girls can be empowered too – they can help themselves.
‘I think in ten years, children who grow up will be more open to the role.’
Jade Alexander, 30, is based at Portishead Fire Station, in North Somerset. She joined up a month ago – also as the first woman.
She combines her contract with work as a personal trainer.
She said: ‘I’m the only woman there, but it doesn’t feel like that.
‘In the fire service, it’s obvious there needs to be a change. It’s quite sad that women joining up is still a big story in 2019.
‘One of the major things is that we’re not visible because there’s not as many of us, so younger girls don’t know it’s an option for them.
‘I think it’s still seen as a bit of boy’s club. The more visible we can be, the more likely that is that we can change things.
‘The job doesn’t feel like a huge commitment. You just need to be a bit more aware of what you’re doing.’
Michelle Crossman, 47, joined Yatton Fire Station in North Somerset nearly ten years ago.
She said: ‘It really was quite prejudiced back in the 90s – purely because of social attitudes back then. It was quite old-fashioned.
‘But attitudes have changed tremendously in the last ten years.
‘Nowadays people are trying to recruit more females. One of the guys I joined up with has moved stations – he said he really misses women, as he hasn’t got any there at all.
‘We get a different perspective [with women] – dare I say it his might be too testosterone-y there!
‘I do know there are people that have had troubles. You always get the odd bit of banter but I think it’s how you handle it as a person.
‘But, since joining this station, I can’t think of any incidents at all.’
If you want to get become a firefighter and make it a bit more representational, the Avon Fire and Rescue Service is currently recruiting across its stations – (also recruiting men).
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/19/female-firefighters-open-up-about-the-sexism-they-face-on-the-job-11931404/
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