How does the sexy firefighter calendar create and perpetuate a hegemonic (patriarchal) masculinity that forms the basis of the “ideal” firefighter candidate and to what extent might the calendar uphold socially constructed masculine ideals that dissuade women and non-“ideal” candidates from applying to the fire service?
Hegemonic Masculinity
Theories
The "Ideal" Firefighter
Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept.
Key scholar: Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities.
Budgeon, S. (2014). The Dynamics of Gender Hegemony: Femininities, Masculinities and Social Change.
Hard Body
Semiotics
Archetypes: Hero, Loyal, Brave, Rugged, Detached
Boon, K. (2005). Heroes, Metanarratives, and the Paradox of Masculinity in Contemporary Western Culture.
Thurnell-Read, T., & Parker, A. (2009). Men, masculinities and firefighting: Occupational identity, shop-floor culture and organisational change.
Yarnal, C. M., Dowler, L., & Hutchinson, S. (2004). Don’t Let the Bastards See you Sweat: Masculinity, Public and Private Space, and the Volunteer Firehouse.
Pope, H. G., Olivardia, R., Borowiecki, J. J., & Cohane, G. H. (2001). The growing commercial value of the male body:
Reddy, R., Sharma, A. K., & Jha, M. (2019). Hegemonic masculinity or masculine domination
Elliott, R., & Elliott, C. (2005). Idealized images of the male body in advertising:
Demetriou, D. (2001). Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity: A critique.
Key Scholar: Perrott, T. A. (2019). Doing hot and ‘dirty’ work: Masculinities and occupational identity in firefighting.
Rohlinger, D. A. (2002). Eroticizing men: Cultural influences on advertising and male objectification.
Cultural Studies
Key Scholar: Hall, S. (1980) Encoding/Decoding.
Barthes, R. (1999). Myth today.
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Hall of Flame - Vancouver Firefighter Charities https://vancouverfirefighters.ca/hall-of-flame-calendar/
Barrett, F. J. (1996). The organizational construction of hegemonic masculinity: The case of the US Navy.
Feminist Media Theory
Johnson, A. G. (2005). Ideology, Myth, and Magic: Femininity, Masculinity, and ‘Gender Roles.’ In The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy
Women in Firefighting /Military
Perrott, T. (2016). Beyond “token” firefighters: Exploring women’s experiences of gender and identity at work.
Eriksen, C., Waitt, G., & Wilkinson, C. (2016). Gendered Dynamics of Wildland Firefighting in Australia.
Khan, Y. A., Davis, A. L., & Taylor, J. A. (2017). Ladders and lifting: How gender affects safety behaviors in the fire service.
Poulin, C., Gouliquer, L., & McWilliams, J. (2019). Othering of full-time and volunteer women firefighters in the Canadian fire services
Rimalt, N. (2007). Women in the Sphere of Masculinity: The Double-Edged Sword of Women’s Integration in the Military.