A fire service chief has urged regional press editors to stop using the term “fireman” in stories – claiming it deters women from considering a potential career in the emergency service.
London Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton has written to 40 national and local editors asking them to stop using “fireman”, and has also called on them to “challenge sexist language in order to shift public attitudes”.
Ms Cotton’s call is part of London Fire Brigade’s #Firefightingsexism campaign, which aims to break down what it sees as the sexist stereotypes that still surround the fire and rescue service.
Figures released last week show that 25pc of women think men are more able to be firefighters than women, but only 7pc of the same women surveyed think men are more able to be police officers than women.
In her letter to the editors, Ms Cotton wrote: “It was thirty years ago that people were shocked to see women police officers and it’s frankly embarrassing that the public are still shocked to see women firefighters today.
“The armed forces and the police force have all been enriched by having women better represented across their ranks and it’s time the fire and rescue service caught up.
“Role models like Juliet Bravo and Jane Tennison changed people’s perception of women in the police force.
“Now it’s time for advertisers, journalists and marketers to stop relying on lazy clichés and help change attitudes which will in turn encourage more women to embark on a wonderful and fulfilling career in the fire service.”
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Been firefighters in my book for a very long time
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Pretty much every other journalist’s book I know of too, Richard Weston.
In fact, if I saw the word ‘fireman’ in the newspaper nowadays, it would strike me as unusual as it was when I first saw ‘firefighters’ become the norm in newspapers well over three decades ago.
No smoke without fire, I know – so I’m hoping Dany knows what she’s talking about – but this looks like ‘false alarm, questionable intent’ to me.
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Which papers? The ones where every raid is carried out by a policeman I suppose and every hospital call by an ambulanceman.
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Can’t remember the last time I saw ‘fireman’ in a story. In Australia they are called Firies, ambulance people Ambos.
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Graham. I like Firies and Ambos. Could catch on!
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