Better examples probably would have been garbage men, roofers, welders, plumbers, etc. It's only a problem when the job is perceived to have some amount of stat

Better examples probably would have been garbage men, roofers, welders, plumbers, etc. It's only a problem when the job is perceived to have some amount of status. No one fights over opportunities to unclog toilets or shovel fertilizer. The military has (rapidly declining) prestige, firefighting is considered exciting and heroic, etc. Then a demographic split becomes an opportunity to shake down the organization for DEI consulting and make-work sinecures. Personally I don't care as long as any prospective firefighters can quickly carry a 200 pound unconscious person out of a burning building. For some reason, I suspect that pool of qualified candidates skews male.