Firefighting While Female

/

There’s a difference between being liked and being respected

 
Heading home from the Hog Fong Fire. (Photo courtesy Linda Strader)

Heading home from the Hog Fong Fire. (Photo courtesy Linda Strader)

 

“Every time someone said something nice to me, I would be thinking, ‘Do you mean that or not? Can I trust you?’”

— Linda Strader

 

Linda Strader was one of the first women to become a wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. Her book Summers of Fire documents that experience, and she joins me on this episode to talk about it.

We explore what it was like entering a male-dominated field in the 1970s, and we talk about the tough realization that being liked is not the same as being respected.

Plus, we discuss what has changed (or not changed) for female firefighters in the past four decades.

 

Discount codes from our sponsors

 
Parks Project Logo.png

For 15% off your Parks Project purchase, enter the promo code “OUTTHERE” at checkout.

 
Logo_CusaT_SquareNOTAG_ColorBLK.png

For 25% off your order and a FREE sample pack of Cusa Tea, enter the promo code “OUTTHERE” at checkout.