Playing with fire : gender at work and the Australian female cultural experience within rural fire fighting

Yulia Maleta

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    23 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This article considers the roles, identities and experiences of female emergency services volunteers, most of whom are active fire fighters, within a regional brigade of the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). It is based on interviews and explores how women both adapt to and resist the culture and in the process are transforming it. RFS women were motivated by values of camaraderie, skill and community participation. Their experiences were informed by inclusion and exclusion, and the complex association of gender and competence with physical strength and leadership. Drawing upon the Foucauldian insight that power is never simply repressive but productive and relational, the findings demonstrate how women actively negotiate their position as a collective and as individuals within a mixed gender environment. This article concludes that the demonstrated prowess and agency of women within a non-traditional work context is changing and transforming the cultures and practices of rural fire fighting.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)291-306
    Number of pages16
    JournalJournal of Sociology
    Volume45
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2009

    Keywords

    • Australia
    • NSW Rural Fire Service
    • community participation
    • emergency services
    • gender
    • identity (philosophical concept)
    • women fire fighters
    • women volunteers

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