In a move to reflect on the role of women in the firefighting corps and discuss new masculinities, the Barcelona Fire Service and the Directorate for Gender Services and Time Policies at Barcelona City Council are organising a meeting at the Espain Bombers. Entitled “Rethinking masculinities in the Barcelona Fire Service”, the session is being held on 26 January at 10 am.
The talk will be given by Roy Galán, holder of a law degree, writer, article writer and feminist and LGBTI+ activist. He is the author of various essays on equality, masculinity and how men can help put an end to sexism.
Within the framework of working on masculinities as part of cross-cutting gender policies at a municipal level, the session will reflect on the figure of the firefighter in society, strongly linked to traditional masculinity, and how to foster more plural masculinities with the corps and help drive equality in society.
Various steps have been taken by the Barcelona Fire Service to increase the number of women in the corps. Recent years have seen changes to the entrance conditions, building in the gender perspective and updating the profile of the firefighter in line with the new needs of society.
This session is mainly aimed at firefighters but is also open to anybody interested in this issue. Those wishing to attend should sign up in advance by sending an email to espaibombers@bcn.cat and indicating the number of people.
This session is linked to the exhibition “Protecting Barcelona. Firefighters and fire prevention 1833-2022”, which explains how fire prevention measures have been applied in the city from when the Barcelona Fire Service was created through to the present day. The exhibition is on at the MUHBA Oliva Artés until 30 June.