Back to Normal: Gender and Disaster

Abstract

Our earlier studies of Hurricane Andrew focused on the destruction of everyday life during the crisis itself and the reconstruction of a taken‐for‐granted world during the recovery period; this paper examines the significance of gender in these processes. The abrupt loss of taken‐for‐granted reality occasioned by the storm involved only a slight and momentary disruption of gender roles. The resilience of these roles can be understood only if gender is seen as a property of social organization that shapes not only interactional expectations and pressures, but also cultural and institutional processes, as well as bodily experiences.