BBC news reporter saying 'your men' to fire chief

[leccybill]

Watching the 6 o clock news about the Grenfell Tower tragedy and feeling absolutely devastated.

BBC reporter speaking to the asst fire chief for the London Fire Brigade, began by saying the public want to thank 'your men' this evening for their heroic actions. Later asked if 'your men' had accessed all parts of the building and used the phrase once again later in the short interview. To his credit, the fire chief did say 'our firefighters, both men and women...'
Surely the reporter is aware that women work in frontline emergency services too these days

I took great heart from the fact that the fire commissioner for london is a woman, saw her giving two statements and she was very impressive both times

Agree leccy, it's such lazy language and dismissive too. How hard can it be to say fire officers.

At least back in the 1970's we had council housing and an NHS /s

Ah fgs. Especially with what has happened today surely you should realise there's more important things in life to worry about. It's just a phrase. Obv this guy may generally be a sexist pig but you can't tell that from using the phrase 'your men'

You're talking about reporters who have spent the whole day pestering people who are clearly in shock and traumatised. With such a lack of empathy fo you really expect them to be worried about a bit of gender-sensitive terminology. I aldo wonder how you can watch news of such a horrific event and even notice, tbh.

I didn't see it but the reporters today seemed pretty traumatised themselves. In this case I'd give them a pass. If it had been a reporter in a studio not under stress I'd put in a complaint.

I know it's just a phrase. And I know it's not important in the great scheme of things. But it still got my back up.

you should realise there's more important things in life to worry about.

This kind of argument is ridiculous and used only to derail conversations usually about sexism. It's casual sexism and inaccurate, erasing the work of women and suggesting only men do this work. It's not "just a phrase".

Ffs. All those poor people and THAT is what matters to you. I despair. It doesn't fucking matter.

I didn't see it but the reporters today seemed pretty traumatised themselves. In this case I'd give them a pass

They're meant to be professionals and they have not lost friends or family. They also have producers and other support staff who could tell them to back off. I'm not giving them a pass.

I'm a staunch feminist but for fucks sake as mother of a teenager you have to know when to pick your battles.

Ffs. All those poor people and THAT is what matters to you. I despair. It doesn't fucking matter.

You think people who've been through traumatic events in their lives or those close to them can't also care about issues like this? Your insinuation anyone pointing this out doesn't care about the horrific events or hasn't experienced anything themselves is abhorrent.

It is a completely separate issue and to link the two is to derail. The point is there are plenty of female firefighters and using "our men" erases them. Even those in the armed forces always say "men and women".

Also the fire chief himself saw fit to correct to "our men and women" so it's ridiculous to have a go at anyone here pointing it out.

God, threads like this are what give feminists a bad name.

Yes, agreeing with a fire chief that saying "your men" isn't accurate "gives feminists a bad name".

"All those poor people and THAT is what matters to you" I missed the bit where the OP said that this was all the matters to her? I'm not sure why people are assuming that she doesn't care about what happened.

It's unfortunate the reporter used the phrase. I wish that when under pressure it was more instinctive to say "firefighters" not firemen.

The female firefighters who went up that tower today are heroes. It isn't petty to want them to be respected in the same way as their male colleagues.

You're talking about reporters who have spent the whole day pestering people who are clearly in shock and traumatised.

This is so true. I've seen a number if interviews where the reported definitely should have backed off. Reporting on these sorts of events has definitely crossed a line in terms of ethical behaviour recently. There was one where a woman broke down in tears saying that her 12yo niece was missing, and she should have been given space, not asked more questions

God, threads like this are what give feminists a bad name.

Uhm no they aren't. The OP has a point. She didn't jump on the other threads that are about sympathy,condolences,offers to help,donations etc. She made her own thread,on the feminist board to point out sexist language.

I didn't see that news item but I saw it around 8 o'clock. And there was a reporter apologising for saying men earlier and saying that he'd quite rightly been corrected.

I assume it would have been the same reporter.

I'm a female firefighter and it literally happens every single day. You get used to it. That or when I'm with a male colleague, the member of the public will say, 'and what do you do, dear' as if I work in the office..

To his credit, the fire chief did say 'our firefighters, both men and women...'

Heartening that he corrected it and ensured that all of his crew got full credit.

Yes, the fire chief who said this is clearly an excellent boss, not only doing such a vital job but wanting to credit all his staff for their incredible work.

toopeoply thanks for doing such a fantastic job in looking after us all.

I didn't say it's all that matters. But for it to even cross your mind today beggars belief. Jesus.

I didn't say it's all that matters. But for it to even cross your mind today beggars belief. Jesus.

Plenty of other things crossed my mind today. Plenty of things cross peoples' minds every day. Horrific things happen every day. Did anything else cross your mind the last day a murder took place?