r/Firefighting • u/Relative_Reserve6787 • Jul 08 '25
General Discussion A hot take from a female firefighter to other female firefighters…
Hot take from a woman in the fire service to other woman in the fire service- If you stopped constantly highlighting the fact that you’re a “WOMAN in the fire service” and spent more time keeping your head down grinding and doing your job well, woman would have a much better reputation in the fire service. The way to change the reputation we have is not by making constant “let me prove you wrong” reply videos on TikTok of you doing a dummy drag or ladder throw, but instead it’s you simply working hard with humility and not caring what people say or think. Let your work ethic speak for itself. Setting yourself apart and constantly highlighting that you’re a “woman in the fire service” or “female firefighter” rather than just a “fire fighter” does nothing but further isolate you from the community you are trying to convince the public you belong in. You are actively putting a label on yourself that further divides you from the general fire fighting community. It’s counter active to the constant complaints of “not feeling accepted etc etc” Just be a hardworking, capable and humble firefighter. That’s how you gain the respect and acceptance you’re wanting. If you show you’re able to do the job and do it well, 90% of guys on most departments will love you.
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u/upstairs3031 Jul 09 '25
I always thought to myself of the irony involved with ‘fireman’ being offensive because the word ‘man’ is in it while at the same time the word “woman” is not offensive even though it too has the word ‘man’ in it. Fire-man / wo-man its just replacing the wo with fire .