Brenda Berkman has a valid point. While viewing the television news coverage of this horrible tragedy, I found myself asking the same question. The video footage showed hundreds of brave and courageous firemen rescue workers responding to this colossal emergency, but not even one female amongst them. There is no logical reason for the number of female firefighters responding to the world trade center not to be reflective of their overall percentage in the fire department. For this to be just coincidence is statistically improbable. They couldn't have all called in sick that day or all gotten lost on the way there. So either there are no women firefighters or they were not allowed and ordered not to respond, just like they are prevented from serving their country in combat, and prevented from ever playing baseball and football. The kind of comments posted clearly indicates that you have no respect for all women, and by putting women down it makes you feel better about yourselves. You think that Lt. Berkman sued the fire department to give her a job she wasn't qualified for, but if that were the case she would have no grounds to sue by. When women have to file suit to have a job, its because they are qualified but they are being denied by people and organizations who are prejudice. There is no such thing as women are this or women are that. You pretend that any woman on the fire department was held to lower standards and could never be physically qualified and doesn't belong there. That's absolutely not true. You think its some kind of joke that women want to have the opportunity to make it or break it and meet the same requirements as the men. Well its not a joke and its not whining either. Women don't want lower standards, and believe it or not, there are a few women who are physically qualified. Even if most women couldn't meet the requirements, the few who can should be allowed to. The way you people view women and judge them, not by their own merits as individuals, but as a group of incompetent, weak, cowardly and inferior losers is insulting and humiliating to those women who don't fit that loser definition. The reason there were only women around the perimeter handing out bandaids and water is the women were denied access to that area, but you keep telling yourself they're cowards who didn't want or have the courage to help the rescue effort, they are all weak and not capable of meeting the same physical requirements, no one wants a woman to rescue them because they are not going to be able to lift anyone and all they do is whine about wanting freebies and hand outs and lower standards. How can you think that Lt. Berkman is an example of why every woman should not be allowed to be hired as a firefighter. Actually its quite the opposite. Brenda Berkman is courageous and one of the few women who has the physical strength and qualifications to be a firefighter. Its really sad that so many of you could think that all women are the same and fit that loser definition. That's like saying all brown eyed people are the same. Only a coward would preach supremacy while making up lies to deem all women as lesser.