Here is the thing...my soap box if you will...
I have been reading multiple posts on different female firefighter threads and I have been contemplating about whether or not to reply to them because number one, I don't want to sound condescending and number two, some of the posts that I have read report behavior that is completely unacceptable and I cannot believe that this type of abuse is still going on in the 21st century.
Here is the deal, everyone...we have the greatest job in the world and have the opportunity to touch other people's lives in a way that few individuals have on this planet. We work harder, we have to be stronger and we have to be able to shoulder just as much if not more responsibility for ourselves and our performance on the job as women than our male peers. Is that perception or reality fair? No...Is it right? No...But we are not doing ourselves as professional firefighters or as women any favors at all by accepting abusive behavior and just thinking that it will be okay because we want to be one of the guys...we want the badge...we are proud of our profession. Well, let me emphatically tell each and everyone of you that if you pretend that this behavior is going to change because you will be accepted into the proverbial "boy's club" you are sadly mistaken. You have to stand up for what is right. If your superiors do not listen to you, you need to find someone who will (the press, elected officials, EEOC). The time for playing this ridiculous game is OVER and it would be a travesty for someone in my position not to express my disdain over the ridiculousness that you all are reporting. If we are not part of the answer to supporting diversity in this honorable career, we are part of the problem.
As Fire Chief of a progressive, career department I can tell each and everyone of you that I am not only an advocate for you regardless of your gender and I expect a lot out of you...and that begins with you standing up for YOU! It is also the responsibility of all of us collectively to stand up for each other when we recognize anything that is inherently wrong. We know what that is...in order to move our profession forward we must not only accept this responsibility, we must enforce what is right. Otherwise we are just as guilty as the perpetrators who mask their abusive behavior behind the poisonous interpretation of a time honored tradition.
Listen to me...at the end of the shift when you are driving away from your stations you have to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say "I am accountable, I am professional, I am a great firefighter and I make a difference in this honorable career...for myself and my crew." Period.