Relevant Blog

I was able to find a blog that was relevant to the issue and central focus of my own blog. The blog that I looked at had a background of writing about several barriers that women face, but also just is a place for a woman to have her voice heard. Sometimes being able to be heard is the most important thing emotionally because sometimes it is necessary to speak your mind.
The blog had two posts about woman and the firefighting profession. The first post had to deal with a woman who was fired from her job because other members of her station told the battalion chief that she was driving the ladder truck erratically. When the story is heard in full length it sounds ridiculous and the overall agreement from people that read this story is that the woman should have never been fired. Also, there was a second post with regards to a transgendered firefighter. This highlighted the struggles that she was having within the department as many of her fellow firefighters were not supportive to what she was doing.
This blog is focused around the idea and belief that women area equal to men, and because of this they should be treated equal. Like I had said earlier it’s nice that people can speak their mind sometimes that can be the biggest stress reliever. Not to mention that it is giving these individuals the support that they need as it is apparent that they are not getting any support at work. You can see this post and others at http://ohioemploymentlaw.blogspot.com/feeds/4942632609084182757/comments/default.

NYFD Woman Faces Setback

Adrianne Walsh is a female firefighter with the NYFD. She has many credentials and is very qualified to be where she is today. She was with the fire department through the attacks of September 11 and has dedicated her services to the city. However, despite all of the time she has given and things she has done she still faces much prejudice within the department.
Recently she was transferred to one of the highest regarded stations in the city. The transfer was what she had wanted for a long time, and finally had accomplished another thing that she had been striving for. However, when she arrived to work for the station she was ostracized. Her fellow firefighters treated with no respect as they felt they did not need women around them when they went to work. The men on her shift did not feel safe having her there as they said she was “inadequate” to perform her duties. They prejudice got bad enough to the point that Walsh ended up putting in for a transfer out of that station within a very short time.
It is issues like these that are still occurring that still show the distance that the fire fighting profession still needs to go. These issues of women and the workplace should not be happening like this. She is a qualified person for the job and so she should be able to do so. Not only is it bad that this station is ostracizing her in this way, but the department is not doing anything to control this and be at her side. These are the exact issues as to why I am writing about this topic as these occurrences need to cease for the betterment of the profession.

The Link to this story is http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/News/Slow-Progress--Dismaying-Setbacks-as-Women-Try-to-Expand-Foothold-in-Firefighting-Ranks-/46$42177

New Cheifs Far and Local

Recently there have been a couple of advancements of women in fire stations around the country. This news story is very relevant as one of the promotions actually happened in my home state of Washington. These promotions show the progression that is vital to fire stations around the country and also gives hope to women around the country that risk their lives everyday on the job.
Bonnie Cremer and Ruth Obadal have recently been hired as fire chiefs of their fire departments. These promotions are a good thing that shows hard work can pay off. Bonnie Cremer was hired as a Fire Chief in Illinois. Ruth Obadal was recently hired as the Fire Chief for the Puyallup, Washington fire department. They both are very qualified for these positions. With these promotions women are able to prove their worth to the fire department and are finally getting the respect that they deserve.
This article portrays these women as very experienced firefighters that have been in the service for many years. The advancement of women in the fire department is a very important aspect to showing the diversity with this profession. New ideas and management roles are being brought to the table with these women heading up these given departments and will show other departments new strategies for running the departments.

I was not able to imbed the link to the story but the address is http://www.i-women.org/in_the_news.php?piece=54