bogleech:hope2x:wagwias:savanna:deus-de-mortem:proudgayconservative:fraudulentfeminist:“I need
bogleech:hope2x:wagwias:savanna:deus-de-mortem:proudgayconservative:fraudulentfeminist:“I need feminism because… I’m tired of being one of 3 women at my Fire Department!” No. I’m tired of third wave feminism being so obsessed with equality in every single aspect of life… that they are compromising the safety of others. Did you know that the Australian Fire Department has relaxed its fire service strength and fitness tests just for women because most of them could not even complete the bare minimum required for acceptance? That’s right. Women wanted jobs in the fire department, but because they couldn’t pass the required strength tests they threw a temper tantrum and as a result the government relaxed the entry conditions. My dad is a deputy fire chief, and he would have some choice words for the first two responses. He has more than 35 years of experience. He first started in an entry-level position and rose through the ranks, with about eight years outside of a fire department when he was working as a senior investigator and policy analyst at the Office of the Fire Marshall. He also makes a huge effort to hire women, which unfortunately meets with a lot of resistance within the department—by the same people who are also extremely against hiring people of colour or people who aren’t heterosexual. It’s funny how easily bigotry fits into rhetoric of “safety,” isn’t it?Firstly, women firefighters have to pass the same physical exam as men. A lot men of don’t pass it. A lot of women don’t pass it. But any woman becoming a firefighter has necessarily fulfilled the safety requirements her fitness entails. A lot of women pass the test. Unfortunately, not a lot of women actually apply, because of shitty idiotic attitudes like this. And yes, women often do better on the tests than men. It isn’t the case at all that all men do better than all women who apply. Fuck you for suggesting that.Secondly, guess what, dipshit. There’s a lot more than goes into putting out fires and rescuing people than brute strength. That’s why there’s a lot of education as well as psychological exams that go into hiring firefighters. And it might stagger you to realize that when you’re talking about entering burning buildings and other hazardous environments, having only a bunch of people with the exact same build and physique is a huge safety risk. You know why the (equally strong, equally smart) women on my dad’s force are such an asset to the team? Because they tend to fit places that men can’t—like through a schoolbus window last month that was inaccessible to almost every firefighter present. My dad says the most effective partners have complementary builds. This often means pairing a woman with a man, as it did in this case. This particular pair often works like this: the man helps move the woman to a place he can’t fit (sometimes literally throwing her through a window). If there hadn’t been a woman, the casualties would have been much higher. And that’s just one example. It’s never a disadvantage to have people of different shapes and sizes, all fully trained and all meeting the same physical requirements of the job, who can contribute differently. Thirdly, I’m assuming these idiots regard muscled young white men carrying women and children over each shoulder as the Platonic form of firefighter. But it may astonish you to know that in a fire, smoke kills first. You fucking asphyxiate. That’s one reason firefighters never carry people over their shoulder (the other being that it’s extremely dangerous to deadlift a limp body when you’re wearing 80 pounds of equipment—try doing that and you’re more than likely adding to the amount of victims who need to be rescued). If you hold people up to the ceiling, they fucking asphyxiate. Obviously. So you watch too much TV if you think that’s basically the job. How do firefighters evacuate victims from burning buildings? They drag them along the floor. This is so they don’t suffocate the victim, they lead the way first to safety, and they can fully fucking see and manoeuvre through the hazardous environment. I am not strong. I am not in good shape. I could never be a firefighter without some serious physical training (unlike a ton of other women I know, and like a lot of men). Guess what. Even I can drag my 200-pound, tall, male firefighter father across the floor.You’re not looking out for people’s safety. You’re upholding misogyny and assuming you know what you’re talking about. We do need feminism in firefighting, because it’s a fucking cesspool of white supremacist patriarchal homophobic cisphobic anti-immigrant privilege good old boys’ club bullshit. It’s based on nothing but prejudice, and emergency services should fairly represent the population they’re paid handsomely to defend. Thankfully, people are slowly steering away from this. There are more and more women becoming firefighters, and last month, a woman joined a neighbouring department to my dad’s as a deputy chief. She passed the tests. She has experience and a sterling record. She also has a Master in Gender Studies, and she’s not very big.Bolded the part that points out you don’t even want a group of people who all have the same characteristics and strengths and motivations involved in saving lives for both obvious and less obvious reasons (well, if you’re a cisgender, straight, white, able-bodied, and/or otherwise privileged.)Just to put in my 2 cents, I’m a female firefighter, and I once took a test that I failed because 1 station was physically impossible for me. And note that I said impossible. Not, I wasn’t strong enough, I didn’t work out as hard as the men…etc. I was flying through the test, as I am actually very physically strong, and I know how to prepare for these tests. But I got to a station that I failed because I was not heavy enough. I had to pull a rope down to extend sections of ladder. The ladder was larger than any other I had tested with before, but I went about it as I always would. However, it didn’t budge. This had nothing to do with strength. I passed the station where I had to carry 120lbs on my shoulders and run up and down 3 flights in 30 seconds. No, this one, i hung by that rope and jerked and pulled as hard as possible, but my body weight wasn’t even enough to move the ladder. So i failed on the spot. I later found out by a member of the department, that the test is meant to be like this. That they didn’t want women and this was a way to get them out of the process. This is not a first for me. There was a dept I was going to test for , that when I heard the requirements, I realized that it would be physically impossible. The man i knew working there admitted the same thing. I don’t expect for my test to be easier than a man’s. In fact, i would think it was odd if my test was easier and I would strive to get the same times as everyone else. What would be nice, is if every department took into account that humans come in different shapes and sizes . Not all are perfect V framed men. Let me tell you from experience, fire fighters are NOT all in wonderful shape like they are on TV. I am in far better shape than some men at my department. Fuck anyone for thinking only men can be firefighters. Fuck anyone for saying men are stronger. I had to carry a patient on my own because my my oh-so-manly partner dropped his side. And let me say, when i had to carry a woman alone while crawling because i was the only one that could fit in the confined space, I DIDN’T HEAR A SINGLE MAN COMPLAINING.No response can adequately summarize how hard “fraudulent feminist” was just fucking wrecked. Maybe don’t mouth off about a job you’ve never had or even fucking know anyone who has had. -- source link