Ravenwood - 07/07/05 06:30 AM
Local firewomen are suing Fairfax County for unfair treatment and harassment, and it sounds like they have some valid claims. Shower and housing facilities are alleged to be inadequate, and some of the women claim they were subjected to sexual harassment and innuendo. That's wrong.
But then there's this:
Carolyn Ruwe, said the department makes it difficult for women to stay. She said she had to resign in 2003 after becoming pregnant because department officials ignored her repeated requests to develop a flexible schedule in which she wouldn't have to sometimes work 24 hours straight.That's not equal treatment. She wants them to change the rules to accommodate her being knocked up. Frankly, if my building catches on fire I don't want a team of pregnant ladies showing up to put it out. But that's just me.
"You can't raise a family being gone for 24 hours," Ruwe said. "Many women are leaving because they have to choose, and that's terrible. We work our butts off to get this career. This was my dream job. . . . I cried the day I had to turn my gear in."I thought choice was a good thing?
Other plaintiffs allege discrimination in promotions. Stanley said her promotion to captain was delayed by a supervisor who told her in recruit school that she wasn't "the right image for the fire department. He said that when he pictured a fireman, he pictured someone who can break down a door and go rescue people."Being a fireman requires a certain amount of strength. You have to not just be willing to rush into a burning building, you have to be able to carry 100 pounds of gear with you when you go. Judging by the photo in the Post, and while I'm not saying they're the weakest firemen in the house, I'd be willing to bet my paycheck that they're on the bottom half of the physical scale.Even after she was promoted in 2003, Stanley said, the supervisor was still telling other department personnel in meetings that "he didn't think I could do the job. It was degrading, demoralizing. He never did that to any man, ever."
When you're sending men into death defying situations, they're going to have more respect for you if it's something you're both willing and able to do yourself.
I saw a commercial a while back schlocking some crap that featured a female firefighter in it. It may have been Aleve or something. I can't even remember the product. Now that's effective advertising!
Anyway, I remember seeing it and thinking "Why do they have a female firefighter in this commercial? Are there women Firefighters? That doesn't make sense. Maybe they drive the trucks."
That may seem chauvinistic, i.e. LOGICAL, but the simple fact is there are some jobs that women shouldn't do. Even if they can.
You don't wanna take a shower in the same shower as everyone else? Then QUIT! You can't work 24 hour shifts anymore? Then you are no longer qualified to do this job! Bill went sky diving last week and his chute didn't open all the way and he broke his back. He's now a paraplegic. Guess what? He can't do this job any more either! Why do you deserve special treatment? We didn't build a wheelchair ramp for Bill and we loved Bill. You don't get your own shower. This is something you chose to do. Nobody made you do this! What? Are you trying to prove your balls are as big as the males in your life? ATTENTION WOMEN OF EARTH: YOU HAVE NO BALLS. IF YOU HAVE SAID ANATOMY IN YOUR POSSESSION AT THIS TIME, PLEASE RETURN THEM TO THE NEAREST LIBERAL OR DISREGUARD THIS STATEMENT. THANK YOU.
Every time I lift a box, a female tells me "Careful! IT'S HEAVY!" and it never is. If it was too heavy for me to lift, it wouldn't fit in a box. It would be in a wooden crate, held together with nails. A box wouldn't hold it together. But when I move stuff around, I'll hear that statement a hundred times.
Women aren't as strong as men. They can be, but then they cease to be women in my book. Female bodybuilders are men with birth defects. You're all just gonna have to live your longer median life spans and learn to deal with it.
I do wonder why 24-hour shifts are a regular requirement for anyone? (I don't mean the cases where the fire is still burning at end of shift - that's a no-brainer, you stay until the job is done, or you're too wore out to go on AND your replacement is on the spot and geared up. But I think this complaint was about 24 hour shifts sitting around the firehouse.)
OTOH, the comments about physical strength are spot on. It's a physically tough job, unless you avoid doing many important parts of it. Not very many women are as strong as an average man. I'd rather the firefighters coming to rescue me were stronger than the average man - and very few women can meet that requirement. So I suspect that these women were hired in the first place without passing the same physical requirements as the men.
"He said that when he pictured a fireman, he pictured someone who can break down a door and go rescue people." Duh! I don't hear her saying that she could actually do that as well as a strong man - so she couldn't do the job.
Posted by: markm at July 7, 2005 5:08 PMMy guess is that 24-hour shifts work better because the staff sleeps at the firehouse. If you worked 12-on, 12-off, you'd have people working 7 am to 7 pm and 7 pm to 7 am (or something similar) rather than 7 am to 7 am.
The 12-hour overnight shift would basically be about 4 hours of sitting around and then 8 hours of sleep. The 12-hour day shift would be 12 hours of sitting around. It doesn't seem equitable.
Posted by: Ravenwood at July 7, 2005 5:14 PMCan women do the job? Certainly - some are built to. Will it take more work and effort for a woman, yes - can't change that simple fact.
Should a pregnant woman be trying the physical aspects of putting out a fire and rescuing people? Uh, no. Not wise for anyone involved in the situation.
That being said, I've seen some pretty slovenly male firefighters I wouldn't want saving my house/cats/family members either.
hln
Posted by: hln at July 7, 2005 10:33 PMAgreed!
Posted by: Matt Groom at July 8, 2005 2:18 PMComments on the female firefighers from Fairfax County.
I have worked with them. your comments about physcial capabilities does not apply, one of them is in fact a very strong individual. The issues not presented in the paper will never make it to the court house. Years ago everyone sleeped in the same bunkrooms. It was felt that separate quarters would be better for the females. Not all stations had
capabilities for building separate rooms- county takes for ever to approve permits. I bunked in a camping trailer and commerical tralier many times when assigned to stations that were being rebulit etc or the one that burnt down
( Burke).. All members of the department have made family chocies about their childern and day care and some, like myself- resigned years ago to move to a rural area of the state to raise my children. I came back to Fairfax and started all over again years later- my choice... Guess what I got passed over on the promotion list three times for females so the county could provide an opportunity for the women. All three resigned later for various reasons but it cost me time in grade and eliminated an opportunity for advancement by missing the next promotion test. Equal opportunity- give them a trailer.. they don't know how lucky they are....and yes I still like all three of them.. I hope things can get worked out for them... The mission for all of us is that we all go home after the call. FX Co. FRD member retired - 2003.
(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
