The Regenesis of Traditional Gender Patterns in the Wake of Disaster 1

Abstract

People of both genders occupied the same segments of space, public and private arenas, hours of day and night. But for many, progress in carving out new gender behavior suffered a fifty-year setback after the firestorm. The deep grammar of Western society employs a very basic division to sort out people and define the rules, roles, and behavior. It is based on the distinction between male and female. The resurgence of old gender roles after the Oakland firestorm overlapped with another traditional cultural division, that of public and private arenas. A gendered division of labor makes many women frontline responders in moments of extreme crisis and long-term caregivers to disaster-impacted family members. “Gender is a pervasive division affecting all societies, and it channels access to social and economic resources away from women and towards men,” state Blaikie and colleagues. “Women are often denied the vote, the right to inherit land, and generally have less control over income-earning opportunities.