Premium
Gender and Drought: Experiences of Australian Women in the Drought of the 1990s
Author(s) -
Stehlik Daniela,
Lawrence Geoffrey,
Gray Ian
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7717.00130
Subject(s) - human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , poison control , suicide prevention , medicine , engineering , forensic engineering , medical emergency , pathology
A unique collaborative, sociological study undertaken during 1995–7, explored the social construction of drought as a disaster, with farm families in two Australian states: Queensland (beef producers) and New South Wales (sheep/wheat producers). A decision was made to interview the women and men separately to test our hypothesis that there would be gender issues in any analysis of a disaster, but particularly one which has such a long‐term impact on individuals, families and communities, such as drought. Interviews were conducted with over 100 individuals male and female. We conclude that drought as a disaster is a gendered experience. The paper draws on the narratives of some women involved in the study to identify ‘themes of difference’ which confirm the necessity to maintain gender as a variable in all studies of the social impacts of disaster.