Women in traditionally male professions
- Thread starter Rose65
- Start date
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
My ex was a firefighter.. there were lots of women who worked as firefighters at his station.. and on his watch..... not to say this would happen everywhere , but there was a lot extra maritals going on between them all...
Been There
Well-known Member
- Location
- Florida
The minimum height requirement for a female to enlist in the Marines is 56 inches and weigh between 85 and 115 lbs. Their Physical Fitness Requirements (PFQ) are as strenuous to their body as the men's are to their body. What we looked for are women that had the ability to endure the running course. They were given 31 minutes to run 3 miles, which I know to some of you out there that run or do so on the treadmill doesn't sound like a lot, but try it sometime. Before last year when the women trained in Parris Island and attended the camp during summer, they may have found themselves running in 100°+ temp. I think the women are now in San Diego, but not 100% certain. Put that all together and you have one badass woman.
On the other end of the spectrum, women may not be taller than 82 inches and weigh no more than 182-248 lbs. I am quoting this from the enlistment manual I keep nearby because I always have someone asking about enlisting. I may have sent more men and women into the Marines than the enlistment center in town. In fact, I did a talk at a high school in Southern Virginia and after the assembly, I handed out 37 enlistment forms by "request."
I also want to make clear that Marine women are tough as nails, but they are also sweet, kind and feminine. That doesn't apply to all of them, but I would apply it to at least 80% of our females. I never understood how they can turn their badass attitude into being sweet and kind at the flip of a switch, but I respect them for it. I am not pandering our women, just telling it like I know it is..
I dated 2 women from the Corps, which everyone in the U.S. knows that it's not always OK to do so. I was able to get special permission to do this because the one female was the daughter of one of our Generals who asked me to attend a reception with her in her Father's honor and the second one was allowed because we were of the same rank and we were both single. Both dates turned out great. The female on the second date was deployed to Okinawa 2 weeks later and was to be posted there for who knows how long. I really liked her company and would have asked her out again. We were to go out on the Saturday night before she left on that Thursday. Just 2 days.
On the other end of the spectrum, women may not be taller than 82 inches and weigh no more than 182-248 lbs. I am quoting this from the enlistment manual I keep nearby because I always have someone asking about enlisting. I may have sent more men and women into the Marines than the enlistment center in town. In fact, I did a talk at a high school in Southern Virginia and after the assembly, I handed out 37 enlistment forms by "request."
I also want to make clear that Marine women are tough as nails, but they are also sweet, kind and feminine. That doesn't apply to all of them, but I would apply it to at least 80% of our females. I never understood how they can turn their badass attitude into being sweet and kind at the flip of a switch, but I respect them for it. I am not pandering our women, just telling it like I know it is..
I dated 2 women from the Corps, which everyone in the U.S. knows that it's not always OK to do so. I was able to get special permission to do this because the one female was the daughter of one of our Generals who asked me to attend a reception with her in her Father's honor and the second one was allowed because we were of the same rank and we were both single. Both dates turned out great. The female on the second date was deployed to Okinawa 2 weeks later and was to be posted there for who knows how long. I really liked her company and would have asked her out again. We were to go out on the Saturday night before she left on that Thursday. Just 2 days.
Jules
SF VIP
@Been There 56” is only 4’8”. That’s darn tiny. Why would they care if a woman is taller than 6’8”? Do they have that restriction for men.
Jules
SF VIP
It’s definitely not unique to the UK. Not sure why it isn’t unusual in this profession.
Been There
Well-known Member
- Location
- Florida
Men:
Minimum: 56 inches and 85-122 lbs.
Max: 86 inches and 182-263 lbs.
I have seen both male and female meet the min and the max. I have a picture somewhere of a female at the min and a male at the max. IF I find it, I may post it, but I need to think about it first since I have no one's permission to do so.
Jules
SF VIP
That’s ok. Probably best to not post it.
But why the max for women? In countries like the Netherlands and Germany, etc, the average woman is close to 6’. Wonder what their max is. And women in North America are getting taller on average too.
Been There
Well-known Member
- Location
- Florida
Even at that size, these young women are useful for many details that the larger females haven't been successful doing. You would be surprised. I have found the smaller women are much more spunkier than the larger males and females, they have more energy and they are willing to try almost anything just to be recognized. Personally, I enjoyed having them around us.
We had one small lass named like you. Her name was Julie and she was from Virginia, not too far from where I am living now. During my whole career in the Marines, I never saw another person of either sex have so much energy, a super attitude and a willingness to do whatever she was assigned to do than her. She was definitely someone I wished some of the other Marines would have emulated. In the Marines, we give some people a nickname. We called her "Spark Plug."
Been There
Well-known Member
- Location
- Florida
That's a good question, but I did hear one time that the armed forces placed restrictions on heights because of having to make custom made or tailored made uniforms, which they didn't want to do. If that's true or not, I don't know. I never confirmed it.
Muskrat
Senior Member
- Location
- Mainly arizona
When i worked as a nurse i welcomed the men that were hired.
horseless carriage
Well-known Member
The only job that I have seen a woman doing that caused me to do a double take was that of security on the door of a public venue. In the UK those security staff have the nickname, 'bouncer.' Her colleague, a man, caught my surprised expression, he smiled at me. "She's not one to tangle with," he told me. I took his word, but I'm still uncomfortable with lady bouncers.
hollydolly
SF VIP
- Location
- London England
ooooh there's LOADS of female bouncers, my goodness... almost as many as men in some places, often these woman are as big as the men... and often they're boxers, kickboxers, or martial artists..just as many as there are Female police officers... and some of the police women are really giants
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Lilac
Well-known Member
- Location
- Flyover Country
@horseless carriage, this was probably why the male bouncer said the lady bouncer was not the one to tangle with 
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horseless carriage
Well-known Member
If you have ever been to Dorset, chances are that you travelled along the extremely busy A31. At the junction where you take the road for Bournemouth is a police roadside check, mainly used for pulling in commercial vehicles, usually for weight checks, but sometimes they catch drug pushers, booze cruisers and other miscreants.
I had the misfortune to be pulled into that police checking area whilst out in my old MG. It's so old that it didn't come up on their database, so as a precaution they were checking to see if it just might have been stolen.
I tell you Holly, the lady police officer scared the crap out of me. Her tunic was buttoned up to the point of decency and although there was the feminine rise of the chest, she still had an air of intimidation. Not once did my eyes wander from her eyeball to eyeball fixation, even though impure thoughts might have lingered about the view in my total field of vision. Not a potential bouncer that I would have dared cross.
oldaunt
professional hermit
I tended bar at a strip club for a few years, and also doubled as the bouncer at times. I was 5' 4" and 120#. You don't have to be big, but you do have to be smart and quick.
Jamala
Senior Member
- Location
- Butterfly from Herts/UK
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
A roll of hose weighs a lot, regardless of WHOM is carrying it up the stairs in the high rise building. Same thing for ladders. Physical upper body strength is hard for women to achieve, compared to most men. The TFD lowered the physical standards for ALL their incoming applicants. After 5 years, the majority of the females are NOT working on a truck.......They are now "fire safety inspectors " working M to F, driving a little car, and going around talking to "community groups". Of course under the union contract, they are still getting the same pay as those wo do work on a truck. TFD now has two Female Deputy Chiefs, who were promoted based on their BRIEF time as actual fire fighters. JImB.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Sorry, most of the memorable Ambulance stories would not pass the censorship bot here. I did work for a few months with a fully OUT Lesbian, whose nick name on the job was....SPIKE. She was tough as nails, did not suffer fools gladly, but she also had a finely tuned sense of humor, too. Her patient care was great, and she was a top notch driver in city traffic. She stayed on the job for a total of 27 years, retiring at age 65 as a District Superintendent which is one step below a Deputy Chief in rank. She and her partner now run a cat rescue out in the country. JImB.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Equipment for military use has to be able to be used by a wide range of body types. For just one example....The RCAF restricts the height of pilots who are going to fly the F18 fighter jet, because of the cramped size of the cockpit on that aircraft. Same thing goes for the armoured crew members who have to fit into the interior of the Light Armoured Vehicle mark 3. Boots are a must for all CAF members, but getting a size 4 boot, for a woman is going to be tough. Same thing for the tactical armored vest, for a person who is only five foot three, and weighs 120 pounds. MANY female CAF members BUY their own tactical equipment so they get a good fit. So do SOME of the smaller men. The official CAF policy is...If it looks like the issue equipment, and does the same type of protection for the individual, we will allow it to be used. JimB.
PeppermintPatty
🐢. 🐳. 🐢
- Location
- Canada
That is a great story. Twenty seven years is a long time doing such a stressful job as this. Good for her and love the cat rescue idea. What a hero she is.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
Spike and I once attended a home on Fern Avenue, in the west end. Italian family. Twenty something son was dating a Jamaican woman, Father objected. Son attacked Father in the kitchen with a 3 foot Samurai sword, cutting his left arm off at the shoulder. Spike and I arrived just as 2 Toronto Police officers were running up the front steps of the 2 story house. TFD also arrived at about the same time, so we have 2 Ambulance people, 2 cops, and 4 Fire Department people, all jammed into the 12 foot square kitchen. The son is still swinging the sword, the 2 cops are getting ready to Taze him, we are trying to bandage the stump of the Father's right arm, and the Fire guys are trying to get the Mother out of the house, onto the porch. Cops Taze son, who drops to the floor, we get Father bandaged, and put his severed arm in a plastic garbage bag with all the frozen food from the refrigerator in the kitchen then apply three trauma pressure dressings to the stump. Cops cuff son, and drag him out to their patrol car, Fire guys carry Momma out to the other side of the street, and WE get Father into our van, calling a CODE RED to dispatch, indicating we are going HOT to Toronto General.
Spike is attending that day, and I am driving the van. Remember that this is about 1980, so we have NO DRUGS< no IV's, just oxygen, and pressure dressings, and SPEED. My radio calls later showed that we made the 6 mile drive from Fern Avenue to the ER at Toronto General in FIVE minutes, flat. When we arrived at the ER there was a full trauma team standing at the doors. The brakes on old unit 3293, were BURNING as it sat in the driveway. One of the TGH security guards put out the brake fire, with a ten pound extinguisher. I have never pushed a unit that hard in all my years on the job. Father survived, but his severed arm could not be re-attached.
Spike and I were called as Crown witnesses about a year later, for the son's attempted murder trial. He pled guilty, so there was no need for a long drawn out trial. The Father pleaded with the Justice on the bench to be lenient, but the sentence was "22 years in prison " with no parole for 15 years. The son later killed another prisoner in Millhaven Pen, so he is still inside today. JimB.
Brookswood
Senior Member
I worked in a field where women made up a good 2/3 of the work force - education. IMO, in no other place was I more sorely needed than an institution where females ruled the roost. Why? Just as the presence of a few women in a mostly male environment tends to keep the guys more civil, the opposite is also true. A few men here and there seem to keep the claws from coming out and the reduces the amount of drama. I’ve been told this by many women who work in places that are 90%+ female. And my empirical studies support that finding.
Murrmurr
SF VIP
- Location
- Sacramento, California
I'm glad you pointed that out.
PeppermintPatty
🐢. 🐳. 🐢
- Location
- Canada
That’s quite a scary story Jim and must have been very upsetting. As I was reading this, it made me wonder how traumatized you paramedics as we as police force must getting subjecting to these types of emergency calls.
Do you ever get used to these types of horrific incidents ? Do you get PTSD treatment on a regular bases ? Do calls like this affect your work performance down the road and do you recognize it? Is there someone in charge who makes you get counselling after certain incidents?
Have you ever needed counselling after responding to traumatic incidents and had it helped you?
When you are at home, does your work life ever interfere with your home life?
Has anyone ever quit due to not being able to handle the trauma involved?
Feel free to answer whatever questions you are comfortable with or none at all.
jimintoronto
Well-known Member
First, in 1980 in Canada there were NO PARAMEDICS. The very first Paramedic graduating class from Humber College was 22 people in 1987. My cohort had to make due with the same medical equipment that the Canadian Army used in WW2. No drugs, no injectables, no intubation, no monitors, no hand held radios. WE were called Emergency Medical Attendants. We used our heads, and our backs to deal with what we saw at the scene. NO one at that time had any sort of therapy being offered , you were supposed to deal with it, on your own. Sleep was the universal "stress reliver " on the night shift. In 1980 the term PTSD was unheard of. Lets remember that my time period was 1977 to 1989, so MANY years ago.
People quit? Sure, or try to get a lateral transfer to another City of Toronto job, such as with the Parks department, planting flowers and trees, or the road patrol, as a supervisor checking road conditions. 2 of my partners did laterals out of the Ambulance department. One went to the city jail, as a guard, the other went to the Board of Education as a caretaker. At that time, the Ambulance guys were the highest paid job in the City Union. No one else made as much money as we did. combining the hourly pay, the over time pay, the stat holiday pay, and court and vacation pay. We also only worked 22 days out of six weeks, the rest of the days were "rest days " . On the other hand, it was VERY easy to get hurt on that job. Fall down a set of icy outside stairs, while carrying a 250 pound person, in the winter. I once spent 8 months on the "injured list " with a seperated shoulder and 5 broken ribs, from just such a fall in January. 12 hour shifts either 7 am to 7 pm, or 7 pm to 7 am. Rotate every two weeks, days to nights.
Today, the Toronto Paramedics are graduates of a two year College program. The department has over 1400 Paramedics, with three grades of rank. A newly graduated Ontario Paramedic starts at around $59,000 a year. Year two is about $69,000, aby by year 5 they are grossing over $100,000 a year or more. The highest paid are the Air Ambulance grade three Paramedics, who only do air evac calls across our huge Province. ( Ontario is almost exactly the same size as Texas is ).
People still do dumb things, every day in the city. Example, a 19 year old girl who decided to use gasoline to remove grease from a rug in her basement apartment, then lit up a smoke.......Dead of third degree burns and a burned lung system. Pronounced at the scene, no cardiac activity on the monitor for 5 minutes, a Coroner's call. Death by stupidity is a still a common thing. JimB.