You don’t have to lower the standards; you just need exceptional women

In New York, the Mayor’s office has gutted physical standards so as to let more women firefighters onto the job — never mind that the standards are directly related to the job requirements.  Wolf Howling says what I would have said if I’d written on the subject.

My addition to the topic is that New York now enters the San Francisco era of fire fighters. Between women and small Asians, the City long ago stopped making any effort to have firefighting standards that are actually related to, you know, fighting fires. I’ve actually written about this issue before.

If the standards are reasonably related to the job’s demands, it’s unreasonable and dangerous to water them down to meet the ever-escalating demands of the Social Justice Warrior crowd. And keep in mind that, no matter the standards, there are women out there who can usually meet them. One of the most ferocious, hard-kicking, downright dangerous martial artists I ever met was a female San Francisco firefighter. A lot of the guys were scared to fight her.

And then there’s the amazing and wonderful Captain Sarah Cudd, who completed a 12-mile hike, with a heavy pack, over rough terrain, in two hours and 45 minutes in order to earn her Expert Field Medical Badge. More than 75% of the people who attempt this course — and that means mostly men — fail. Captain Cudd didn’t and it’s tremendously moving to watch her push herself through the fatigue, as well as to see the outpouring of support for her from the spectators (most of whom, again, are men):

From the Facebook post that first brought her to the world’s attention:

CPT Sarah Cudd from Public Health Command, Fort Knox is only 1 of the 46 candidates who earned the EFMB yesterday at Fort Dix, NJ..27 April 2015. This is her last few seconds of the 12 Mile Foot March. The Foot March is the last event of the Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB), and must be completed within 3 hours. If you want it, you have to go get it. Watch this video. This EFMB candidate wanted it, and she got it. It took heart, guts, determination, falling down and getting up, and a little motivation from the crowd to get across the finish line. Check this out.