Female firefighters have proved to a four-year-old child that women can do the job by sharing photos of themselves on Twitter.
Recently, Hannah Summers tweeted that her daughter Esme had come home from school wishing she could be a boy because she wanted to be a firefighter, and thought it was only a job for men.
Summers tweeted: “My four-year-old came home yesterday saying she wished she was a boy so she could be a fireman,” her daughter had only seen photos of male firefighters in books and “didn’t want to be the only girl.”
To prove to her daughter that there are women firefighters, Summers asked her Twitter followers for videos and books that showed females doing the job and hashtagged her request #firefightingsexism
The mum’s request went viral, and received replies from firefighters around the world who responded with photos of themselves.
One response, from the West Midlands Fire Service, showed female firefighters introducing themselves to Esme.
“Esme, lots of our firefighters are girls and boys - some of them want to say hello to you! We would love to meet you and show you what we do. You can be a firefighter too!” the station wrote.
The New York Fire Department also responded to the request, offering book suggestions for Esme and attaching photos of some of the women firefighters on the team.
Another person wrote: “Hi Hannah. Tell Esme not only can she be a firefighter, she can be the boss as well” alongside a photo of Becci Bryant, chief fire officer.
Esme also received various offers to visit fire stations and see the female firefighters in action.
The photos were enough to encourage Esme to follow her dreams, as Summers followed up her post with a photo Esme had drawn of herself as a firefighter.
“Thanks for all the fantastic photos of women firefighters - you all totally rock. Esme has drawn a pic of herself as a firefighter to say thank you,” she wrote.
