Marc Martinez, Sal
Espinoza, Kiara Jones
Laura Metzger
English-1302-099
26 February 2015
The
Lady in Red
In the article, “Orland firefighter
alleges sex discrimination”, by Ashley Rueff, a veteran firefighter, Lt. Terri
Simone-Lorenz, filed a law suit against the Orland Fire Protection District,
due to sexual discrimination. Several other firefighters in her district,
including the Battalion Chief, sexually discriminated Lorenz by “unfairly being
singled out by her superiors on training drills, and that her superiors shunned
and ostracized her while encouraging others to do the same” (Reuff).
As children we are taught from a
young age that firefighting is a man’s job. Young boys from all ages say again
and again that they would like to become firefighters when they are older. But
what about the girls? Is it so taboo that a girl might want to become a
firefighter, as well? We see this type of discrimination in Lorenz’s story due
to her gender as a female in her specific workplace. Just because she is a
female working as a firefighter, this does not mean she should automatically be
subjected to sexism.
Eventually, the article states, “When
she (Lorenz) objected to the work conditions, her superiors began looking for
reasons to fire her” (Reuff). Not only that, but according to the article, one
of Lorenz’s superiors, Roche, expresses that she gets the same benefits as all
the other firefighters do and is therefore treated the same. However, Lorenz
was victim to numerous rumors of pornography “left in the women’s bathroom”
(Reuff). This allegation was investigated poorly and still remains indifferent.
Likewise, Lorenze made an “obscene” gesture to a coworker while off duty and received
a two day suspension. Though, how likely is it that a man would receive the
same outcome for that same offense? Though she filed a charge of
discrimination, nothing was done about it.
Women have often been mistreated
when working in a male dominated workplace. Personally, we do not see this to
be fair. Just because she is a woman, does not mean that she deserves the
treatment she was awarded. This sort of discrimination does not only happen in
the firefighting community, but also in other workforces such as the police
force, medical field, military, etc. This should not be tolerated.
What makes males so much better at
these jobs than women? Why is it that so many people have the expectation that
because someone is a firefighter or cop that they should automatically be male?
It is fairly plausible that the answer to this question dates back to our
history. Since jobs such as these have arisen, it was seen as a man’s duty.
However, when women were allowed to join the workforce, things began to change.
Regardless, society has still not been able to shake this label of men being
the protectors and doing the hard labor, while women are expected to be the
caregivers and stay-at-home wives.
In conclusion, there should be
equality in the workforce—no matter what the job.
Work
Cited
Rueff, Ashley.
"Orland Firefighter Files Gender Discrimination Complaint against
Department."
Orland Firefighter Alleges Sex
Discrimination. Chicago Tribune, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 26
Feb. 2015.
