seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (04/26/84)
> The majority of the coverage dwelt on the physical tests they had > to pass. These tests were quite difficult and required extensive > physical conditioning in preparation. The current male firefighters > were interviewed, and at least one gave the rather standard objection > you hear when women begin moving into previously-all-male jobs involving > heavy physical effort, that even if a woman could pass the test, she would > be slower than a man and this would cause danger in an interdependent > high-risk situation like fighting a fire. (The actual quote was something > about running up three flights of stairs lugging equipment, and that the > woman would be a minute slower than the man -- if they were trying to work > together, this left the man alone in a situation where there should be > a team protecting each other.) This is ridiculous! Either the physical tests are adequate, or they aren't. (I'm assuming here that the women have to pass the exact same test as the men.) The gender of the testee has nothing to do with it. There is a very wide variation in physical ability both within men and within women. (hence the reason for the tests in the first place!) Why aren't they worried about a man who barely passes the tests being paired with one who breezes through them easily? -- _____ /_____\ That auto-crossing beagle, /_______\ Snoopy |___| BMWCCA, Windy City Chapter ____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (04/26/84)
[] I found your proposal interesting. I would like to add, however, that there are any number of other positions on a Fire Team that a woman could perform. One that comes to mind is the Engineer. This is the person who operates the pumping equipment on the truck (at least in the towns I know of around here). This job is several steps above being a fireater. There are several other positions in a fire crew that, if taken over by women, would allow a male firefighter to be reassigned to hose duty, thus punching holes in the physical limitations argument. T C. Wheeler
anita@drux3.UUCP (04/26/84)
-- I saw the PBS program about the women trying out for the San Francisco Fire Dept. I must say that I think the SFFD went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that some women got into the department. This was, of course, after the threat of a suit. What the city ended up doing was to set up a special training program for women wishing to try out. This was not done for men trying out. Also, people are chosen for the department based on their overall test scores (written and physical). Thus, someone who barely passed would be at the bottom of the list, and would probably not ever get hired because not that many new-hires would be needed before the next test was given. What they did for the women was, even though they finished too low on the list to hope to get hired, they were all moved to the top of the list. I'm not sure that was the right thing to do. I'm sure a lot of the working firemen would have hated the idea even if the women had placed high on their own, but I can certainly understand their ire at seeing them undeservedly moved up. I would love to see women in those kinds of jobs as a means of giving young girls the role models they need to encourage them to strive for them, but I wish that this could be accomplished some other way.