In an effort to curb sexual harassment, a city in British Columbia is requiring all of its firefighters to wear boxers rather than briefs.
In the wake of harassment allegations from four female firefighters, the department didn't respond by committing to hiring a critical mass of women, working to change firehouse culture, or instating strict penalties for harassing behavior. Nope, they decided standard underwear (the same boxers will be issued for both male and female firefighters to wear) was the way to go.
The one-style-for-all is part of the city's attempts to make the department gender-neutral and provide an environment in which men and women will feel comfortable, said Townsend.
This is, apparently, because firefighters have to strip down to their underwear in order to dress in their gear before heading out on a call. I guess it's possible that the women complained about being catcalled while changing into their gear. And if issuing standard underwear will change their work environment for the better, I'm all in favor.
I hope, though, that the fire department is looking at broader ways to change its culture of sexual harassment.
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Don't you love the implicit message here that it was women's underwear that was responsible for the harrassment? If that pesky underwear would just stop forcing men to harrass women, there would be no problem!
Also note how "gender-neutral" means "male"--I know few women who wear boxers (probably TMI, but I do sometimes--usually boxers I've swiped from a boyfriend or something.). It would've been kind of cool if they'd forced all the men to wear panties.
What about women on their period? I mean, I've never worn boxers, but I don't think a pad will stick to them well. Are they going to have to all wear tampons or wear panties underneath just so men don't freak out? WTF?
It makes sense to have standardized underwear if folks are going to wear it in public--anyone ever watch Battlestar Galactica and notice what a powerful and egalitarian image that is in the pilots' dressing room scenes?--but that's independent from the problem of sexual harassment as far as I'm concerned, and I don't think it'll fix it. The truth is that the boys who practice same need to have the book thrown at them. That's how you fix it.
Cheers,
TH
That was my first thought, too. Where would you put a maxi pad? Also... shouldn't the men wear bras, too? Just to make it all the same.
I thought the issue was the men wearing revealing jockey shorts.
Here's a couple more articles about this:
Fire department's sexual harassment slammed by mediator
New code of conduct for Richmond firefighters
Boxer shorts made mandatory for Richmond firefighters
A couple of things:
Judging by how uncomfortable a maxi is on a very hot day, I find it hard to believe female firefighters would subject themselves to one during a fire. There is also nothing preventing either men or women from wearing panties or briefs underneath the boxers.
From the articles, it seems that Richmond has taken some other measures, and this is just an extra one. The questions I'm asking are: Why did this take so long? And is this going to make a difference, or enough of a difference? Are the female firefighters in EVERY city going to have to fight for their rights like this, and why aren't cities being more proactive?
I have a problem with this. I and many men wear more supportive underwear during any type of activity that requires some level of agility and exertion. Wearing boxers can cause damaged testicles, requiring surgery. How do i know? Don't ask. Putting men's testicular health at risk is not the solution.
A good unisex solution would be bike shorts and a tank top. Or at least that's what they do on Battlestar Galactica.
I also recommend that firefighters fly around and shoot at Cylon spacecraft, just to complete the effect.
Cheers,
TH
I never understood the point of a catcall. Has it ever worked? Seriously. Is there a couple out there where the man yelled obnoxiously at her so she decided to be with him? Give me a break. Maybe, if they made the men where panties and bras while being catcalled at, they wouldn't be so quick to do the same.