Fire chief hits out at TV show gender bias

A TYNE and Wear fire officer has criticised TV show Love Island over its “fireman challenge”, saying: “I am proud to be a firefighter – not a fireman.”

The challenge was condemned by London Fire Brigade for reinforcing the cliche of firefighters as muscle-bound male sex objects.

And now Tyne and Wear fire and rescue chief fire officer Chris Lowther has spoken out, saying: “Firefighting was for all genders.”

He said: “Our recent recruitment drive was for firefighters – all genders. I am proud to be a firefighter – not a fireman.”

“We’ve used this term for over 30 years and I wouldn’t want anyone to be discouraged from joining the fire service because of the misconception that firefighters are all men.”

“It is time we all moved away from giving professions a gender bias. Everyone should be inspired by the career they want to follow not whether it is a role believed to be more suitable for a particular gender.

“We must challenge and eradicate any barriers that stop us achieving gender balance in the workforce.”

The ITV2 show’s challenge required male Love Island contestants to strip to their underwear and pretend to save a woman in danger.

It had been criticised by the capital’s fire service commissioner as “rolling out every offensive cliche possible”.

Earlier this year, the Advertising Standards Agency ran a consultation on a proposal preventing adverts from “including gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence”.

However, reality television shows such as Love Island have not been subject to any similar guidelines or proposals currently.