Gender-specific Roles Research Articles

An analysis of the hospitals of Sultan Suleyman and Hurrem: Two different approaches to healthcare in sixteenth-century Ottoman Empire.

This study concentrates on two monumental Ottoman pious endowments, each with a major component devoted to healing. The first is the hospital of the Haseki Mosque Complex built by the wife of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. An examination of the deed and the modus operandi of this endowment will impart a sense of the role that women of the ruling class played in Ottoman society as builders and healers in the sixteenth century. The analysis of the Haseki Hospital will be followed by an examination of the hospital that is part of the Suleymaniye Mosque Complex built by Sultan Suleyman. The differences between the two perspectives in the promotion of public health will be emphasized, arguing that the Sultan's approach to healthcare was academic and research-oriented, whereas his wife's was holistic and devoted to rehabilitation. The endowment deeds and the physical layouts of the two hospitals shed light upon a dual approach to healthcare with gender-specific roles affirmed and shaped by Hurrem and Suleyman the Magnificent, who each built hospitals of their own in Istanbul, the Ottoman capital city.

Problems and opportunities of women SHGs in entrepreneurship development

Empowerment of rural women has emerged as an important issue in today. The economic empowerment of rural women is being regarded as independence for rural women. Rural women are becoming economically independent and providing employment opportunities to others through involving in micro entrepreneurship. Women's entrepreneurship contributes to the economic well-being of the family and communities and also reduces poverty. Self-help groups (SHGs) have smoothened the way for economic empowerment. Economic empowerment of rural women led to development of family, community, society, state and nation therefore it is very necessary to give keen of our attention over empowerment of women in the rural area for the real development of our country in all spheres. An SHG entrepreneur is someone that organizes, manages, and assumes the risk of a business enterprise. Today, more women are breaking free from the traditional, gender-specific roles and venturing into the business world. This study deals with empowerment of rural women through micro entrepreneurship development among rural women. This study was carried out to know the socio- economic background of the women SHG's, their knowledge, skills and earning capacity. The study also looked at the money management practices of women SHG members and their problems. On the basis of the findings that revealed limited knowledge of the women regarding value for savings, account keeping and financial liabilities. Only a few SHGs were found economically proficient.

Sociocultural Influences on Arab Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening in Qatar.

Breast cancer, the most common cancer among Arab women in Qatar, significantly affects the morbidity and mortality of Arab women largely because of low participation rates in breast cancer screening. We used a critical ethnographic approach to uncover and describe factors that influence Arab women's breast cancer screening practices. We conducted semistructured interviews with 15 health care practitioners in Qatar. Through thematic analysis of the data, we found three major factors influencing breast cancer screening practices: (a) beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding women's bodies, health, and illness; (b) religious beliefs and a culturally sensitive health care structure; and (c) culturally specific gender relations and roles. Arab women's health practices cannot be understood in isolation from the sociocultural environment. The problem of low rates of breast cancer screening practices and supportive interventions must be addressed within the context and not be limited to the individual.

Reproductive status of Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) affects its response to infection by Steinernema feltiae (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae)

Gender-specific reproductive roles are important factors determining sexual dimorphism. Here, we investigate the effects of sex-based differences and reproductive status on the defence of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) against infection by Steinernema feltiae (Filipjev, 1934) (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae). Female and male beetles, either virgin or post-copulation, were exposed individually to nematodes. Individuals were then sampled every 12 h, dissected, and checked for the presence of nematodes; we also measured their phenoloxidase (PO) activity. Reproductive status affected resistance to nematodes and PO activity as infected virgin individuals had a higher PO activity and lower mortality than reproducing individuals, with no differences between sexes. Mortality also increased with time, while PO activity did not change. Parasite load was related to reproductive status and sex, with reproducing females with the highest parasite loads in all treatments, and virgin males with more nematodes than sexually active males. Our results indicate that the costs of reproduction impair the immunological system of T. castaneum similarly in both sexes. It is possible, however, that other components of the immunological system that we did not measure, such as lysozyme activity, are impaired by infection with S. feltiae in a sex-specific way.

Opportunities for Underutilised Crops in Southern Africa’s Post–2015 Development Agenda

Underutilised crops represent an important component of Southern Africa’s agro–biodiversity that has potential to contribute to the region’s post–2015 development discourse. We reviewed the potential of underutilised crops with respect to how they can contribute to topical challenges, such as food and nutrition security, human health and well–being, climate change adaptation, the environment, and employment creation in poor rural communities. The fact that underutilised crops are the product of generations of landrace agriculture supports the idea that they are resilient and adapted to the needs of farmers in marginal agricultural environments. In addition, underutilised crops are also seen as offering economic advantages due to their uniqueness, suitability to environments in which they are grown and low input requirements. In certain cases, underutilised crops are associated with specific gender roles with women being seen as particularly significant in their production. Evidence also suggests that the inclusion of underutilised crops in cropping systems contributes to dietary diversity and improved nutrition. In the context of the post–2015 agenda, the potential of underutilised crops to generate income, address food security and their status as a “subset of biodiversity” links with a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addressing social, economic and environmental issues.

Les femmes royalistes contre l’armée dans le Midi en 1815

The beginnings of the second Restoration include a bloody reactionary period known as « the white terror » that last until the end of the year in a few places. All along this conflict the presence of women is noticed in numerous fights opposing royalists and law enforcement units, considered as being under the influence of the « patriots ». Pierre Triomphe analyses these gender specific roles and motivations within the frame of the relations between the royalist part of the population and the military. As most of the reporters were prejudiced against women in politics, the exceptions were given more importance than the norm, but the majority of the actions and the motives are typical of the final upcoming of the royalists in a country in upheaval since 1789.

“Beauty has no price, for a beautiful woman has the world at her feet”: representations of the female body in advertisements printed in “Realitatea Ilustrată” magazine

Printed interwar advertisements articulated a discourse that served both to promote specific meanings attached to femininity – physical beauty as a central social and symbolic female quality – and to define precise social sanctions that could be applied to women that did not know or follow normative beauty standards. Distinguishing constantly between what was desirable and what was repulsive, between the ideal and the imperfect, ad makers employed a series of visual and textual representations of the female body as a means to create a polarized and reductionist discourse, which in turn aimed to reduce the number and validity of definitions attached to femininity. The resulting symbolic antithesis stated that a beautiful woman was a model of social, economic and personal success, in stark opposition to the woman that did not value her physical appearance, doomed to live an unhappy and meaningless life, bereft of familial or professional fulfillment. This article will argue that representations of the female body created by the interwar advertising discourse played an important role in the structuring and dissemination of specific gender roles, expectations and stereotypes associated with femininity. The study is centered on qualitative analysis of a selection of ads printed between 1927 and 1940 in a well-known Romanian popular magazine – “Realitatea Ilustrată”.Printed interwar advertisements articulated a discourse that served both to promote specific meanings attached to femininity – physical beauty as a central social and symbolic female quality – and to define precise social sanctions that could be applied to women that did not know or follow normative beauty standards. Distinguishing constantly between what was desirable and what was repulsive, between the ideal and the imperfect, ad makers employed a series of visual and textual representations of the female body as a means to create a polarized and reductionist discourse, which in turn aimed to reduce the number and validity of definitions attached to femininity. The resulting symbolic antithesis stated that a beautiful woman was a model of social, economic and personal success, in stark opposition to the woman that did not value her physical appearance, doomed to live an unhappy and meaningless life, bereft of familial or professional fulfillment. This article will argue that representations of the female body created by the interwar advertising discourse played an important role in the structuring and dissemination of specific gender roles, expectations and stereotypes associated with femininity. The study is centered on qualitative analysis of a selection of ads printed between 1927 and 1940 in a well-known Romanian popular magazine – “Realitatea Ilustrată”.

Failing to attract males in foundation phase teaching: an issue of masculinities

Drawing on a qualitative interview-based study, this article foregrounds the perspectives of a group of male pre-service teachers at a South African university for choosing not to specialise in the teaching of young children. Male pre-service teachers in this study associate with teaching older learners in the senior phases, constructing it as more appropriate for men, with greater intellectual capacity and a higher status profession in contrast to the feminised caring roles associated with teaching young children in the Foundation Phase (FP). They disassociate with the FP of teaching, engage in oppositional and gendered discourses, claim power and construct a version of masculinity that has inequitable gendered effects. Understanding why men choose not to pursue the FP of teaching is a key issue of masculinities and power. Drawing attention to such issues becomes necessary in order to counteract positioning males and females into gender-specific roles within professions and in the context of this study, to attract more males into the largely feminised FP of teaching.

Socially Responsible Teaching and English Language Coursebooks: Focus on Ethnicity, Sex, and Disability

The purpose of this study is to analyze the reading passages and related pictures published in English language coursebooks in terms of ethnicity, sex and disability by relating them to socially responsible teaching. A checklist formerly used by Cunningsworth (1995) was adapted and used for the purposes of this study. This checklist included the headings of nationalities, whether any kind of disability is included or not, types of disability, number of males and females and gender specific roles attached to males and females. A total of 240 reading passages were analyzed throughout the study and frequencies and percentages for each coursebook were calculated. Results indicate that the coursebooks analyzed generally lack sensitivity to differences based on nationalities, sexes and disability. Results also demonstrate that disability gets little or no place in the coursebooks studied. Also, it was found that females are not represented equally with males. With regards to ethnicity, native speakers of English appear in the coursebooks more than non-native speakers do

The role of structural and interpersonal violence in the lives of women: a conceptual shift in prevention of gender-based violence

Explanations for violence against women (VAW) have developed in a wide variety of disciplines including, sociology, psychology, social work and public health. Theories of VAW range from individual and relationship level explanations to socio-cultural and political explanations for why violent acts towards women are committed. Feminist scholars, for instance, focus their attention to male-dominated social structures and socialization practices that teach men and women gender-specific roles that can influence violence and abuse against women [1]. One of the most common forms of violence against women is interpersonal violence (IPV). IPV refers to everyday violence such as sexual and physical assault that occurs between family members, intimates, or acquaintances. The UN Declaration was the first international statement that defined violence against women within a broader gender-based framework and identified the family, the community and the state as major sites of gender-based violence. The statement was rooted in feminist analysis of social inequality. According to the UN Declaration, violence against women involves: Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. (p.1) Gender-based violence (GBV) can include domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence and rape. GBV is a deliberately broad term in order to recognize the gendered elements in nearly all forms of violence against women and girls, whether it is perpetrated through sexual violence or through other means. The use of the term ‘gender-based violence’ provided a new context in which to examine and understand the phenomenon of violence against women. It shifted the focus from women as victims of violence to gender and the unequal power relationships between women and men that are created and maintained through gender stereotypes. A gender perspective on violence against women addresses the similarities and differences in the violence experienced by women and men in relation to vulnerabilities, violations and consequences. In response to this declaration, various efforts have been made to respond to reduce and eliminate this violence experienced by women. Significant attention has been paid in the Northern hemisphere and high income countries such as Canada and the U.S. to the provision of social services to victims of GBV, such as strengthening and maintaining women’s safety and their involvement in social, political and economic activities. Changes have also been made to justice sector responses, and to treatment for perpetrators of GBV. Interventions in low and middle-income countries have focused on primary prevention strategies to reduce the prevalence and incidence of violence against women and girls. These prevention programs use a wide range of approaches, including group training, social communication, community mobilization, and livelihood strategies.... Language: en

Land conflicts and the livelihood of Pastoral Maasai Women in Kilosa district of Morogoro, Tanzania


 
 
 This summary of my PhD thesis analyses conflicts around land in relation to pastoral Maasai women livelihoods in Tanzania. Issues of pastoralism and land use conflicts in Tanzania are well documented in literature. However, a gendered analysis of conflicts around land in relation to land reforms (changes in the use and ownership of, and access to land and land resources), prolonged climate variability and change, and food insecurity, hardly exists in the literature. Of particular concern is the rudimentary analysis of these conflicts as it relates to pastoral Maasai women, the primary and secondary users of land in pastoral livelihoods. Data analysed in this report were collected in Kilosa district, located in Morogoro, Tanzania, one of the renowned hotspots for pastoral-farmer conflicts in Tanzania. Within Kilosa, data were collect in pastoral Maasai settlements [villages] of Twatwatwa, Kiduhi, Ngaiti, and Mabwegere, and pastoral Maasai women were central focus. Through ethnographic research methods namely focus group discussions, interviews, and participant observations, I have found that vulnerabilities to conflicts around land are gender differentiated, and that pastoral Maasai women experience climate change, food insecurity, and land reforms differently from men. An overall conclusion in this report is that, conflicts around land in Kilosa are intricate in nature and cannot be analysed from a single narrative, and pastoral Maasai women by virtue of their specific gender roles and the gender relations are hit hard. I therefore argue that, (1) for secure land reforms, the political, economic, and social structures through which land access is mediated must also be reformed; (2) there should be a holistic conflict mitigation approach and strategies in resolving conflict around land in Kilosa. The approaches should focus at engaging pastoralists and pastoralist women in particular, and their institutions and making them an integral part of the solutions. (3) Decisions dealing with climate change mitigation strategies such as the Kilosa eviction of 2009 should also involve pastoralist women whose livelihood depends directly and/or indirectly on climate sensitive resources; (4) the introduction of forage crops production [such as grasses and legumes] in Kilosa is imperative. This will assist in increasing pasture production, which eventually will boost livestock production [livestock, the main preferred food source among the pastoral Maasai]. Equally, availability of forage crops within pastoralists reach reduces unplanned herd mobility, and at the same time lessens challenges that pastoralist women face in their responsibilities as default food managers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Key words: Bantu languages, Ubangian languages, contact langues, documentations, reconstructions, classifications 
 
 

Land use change and shifts in gender roles in central Sumatra, Indonesia

SUMMARY While Indonesia is experiencing a rapid land use transition due to export-oriented growth in agricultural products such as palm oil and natural rubber, there is no clear understanding of how shifts in farming practices influence gender-specific roles and preferences. In a partially matrilineal society on Sumatra where rice production for subsistence purposes, in an agroforestry landscape, is traditionally considered the women’s domain and responsibility, 202 households were surveyed about their perceptions of gender-specific agricultural roles. Over time, rice fields have been converted to oil palm. Lowland women have increasingly significant roles in rubber agroforestry in addition to collecting firewood, medicinal plants and wild fruit for household consumption, whereas men are typically occupied in monoculture oil palm or rubber production. As land use patterns rapidly change, particularly in the lowlands, the responsibility of rubber agroforestry systems is shifting from men to women with consequences for gender division of labour and decision making.

Pro poor research, science and technology for agricultural development in the context of climate change and variability in Southern Africa.

Due to climatic change and variability, achieving sustainability in agricultural development with emphasis on satisfying basic human needs and improving people’s standard of living through enhancing food security and reducing poverty has been a challenge in Southern Africa. This discussion is a synthesis of counter productive developmental disparities in agricultural production in poor communities, focusing on issues of research, science and technology, and how these may influence agricultural development in the context of climate change. This gives possible insight on research, science and technological innovations that can be explored as strategies for agricultural development tailored made for poor communities, focusing particularly on Southern Africa. Climate change and variability is an area in which considerable uncertainty remains, especially in developing countries with implications suggesting that the future holds many types of disruption in poor communities, but no clear trends have yet been identified, whereas observations of the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity in the world's poorest people are often alarmist. Research, science and technology plays a key role in economic growth, social development, cultural enrichment and democratic empowerment. It is assumed that through the ‘gender lens’ an understanding of engendered research, science and technology through examination of specific gender roles, activities, responsibilities, opportunities and constraints in agricultural production which compromise the achievement of greater equality between women and men within their spheres of interaction in agricultural production will address the fundamental issue of climate change and agricultural productivity. Gender is a socio-economic variable which can be used to analyze vulnerability and adaptive capacity of people against climate change and variability in local communities in Southern Africa. Dealing with the inevitable impact of climate change is now high on the agricultural development agenda in most developing countries. Therefore, engaging in appropriate research, climate change science and agricultural technologies targeted at poor rural people through planning adaptation and mitigation efforts can reduce the risks of climate change while accelerating progress towards food security and reducing poverty. In this discussion, it is noted that apart from appropriate research, climate change sciences and technology as some of the strategic steps that can be adopted for future viable agricultural production in the context of climate change, it may also include and not limited to the following: promotion of gender equality and equity in agricultural production in terms of resource allocation, training and gender sensitive policies. This gives room for innovative prospects for the agricultural systems of the future, supplemented by a critical look at all the major mitigation and adaptation attempts under way and what this means for research, science and technology for agricultural development. Developing countries should come up with their own resources to develop the capacity to adapt to environmental change in order to improve agricultural productivity. There is need for constant review of adaptation strategies through research, climate change science and agricultural technologies because the speed and intensity of climate change is outpacing the speed of autonomous adaptations and is threatening to overwhelm the ability of poor rural people to cope. On the other hand developing countries can use climate change policies to leverage human capacity, investment, and climate change and agricultural technology to capture large-scale pro poor mitigation opportunities, while simultaneously augmenting their agricultural development goals. It is vital that we come up with appropriate research, understand climate change science and agricultural technology that underlie the global climate talks, in order to work with poor communities to find concrete alternatives in response to the issues surrounding the climate , while heeding the demands of sustainable agricultural development.

Factors associated with physical or sexual intimate partner violence perpetration by men attending substance misuse treatment in Catalunya: A mixed methods study.

Prevalence of intimate partner violence perpetration is higher among male substance misusers than men in the general population. Previous studies have included few risk factors, limiting their capacity to inform interventions. The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with intimate partner violence by male substance misusers. Two hundred and thirty-five men in treatment for substance misuse completed surveys that included the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (PMWI). Variables significant in bivariate analyses were entered into multiple logistic regression analyses. Seventeen in-depth interviews were conducted with perpetrators and analysed using a framework approach. Just over a third of the men (34%) had been violent in the last year to their current/most recent partner. After excluding the men's own domestic victimisation from the multivariate model, perpetratation of such violence was significantly and independently associated with lower level of education, having higher PMWI dominance-isolation and emotional-verbal subscale scores and parents who had separated/divorced, and at a lower level of significance, childhood physical abuse, hazardous drinking and cocaine as the principal drug for which treatment was sought. Interview data suggested that perpetrators 'blamed' alcohol or cocaine use, jealousy, control and provocation or 'fighting back' for their behaviour. Intimate partner violence is common among men attending substance misuse treatment. Integrated interventions should that address both intimate partner violence and substance misuse should be considered. Areas for intervention would include reducing dominating-isolating behaviours and emotional-verbal abuse, improving communication skills, challenging gender-specific roles and believing that substance use 'causes' violent behaviour.

Land conflicts and the livelihood of Pastoral Maasai Women in Kilosadistrict of Morogoro, Tanzania

This summary of my PhD thesis analyses conflicts around land in relation to pastoral Maasai women livelihoods in Tanzania. Issues of pastoralism and land use conflicts in Tanzania are well documented in literature. However, a gendered analysis of conflicts around land in relation to land reforms (changes in the use and ownership of, and access to land and land resources), prolonged climate variability and change, and food insecurity, hardly exists in the literature. Of particular concern is the rudimentary analysis of these conflicts as it relates to pastoral Maasai women, the primary and secondary users of land in pastoral livelihoods. Data analysed in this report were collected in Kilosa district, located in Morogoro, Tanzania, one of the renowned hotspots for pastoral-farmer conflicts in Tanzania. Within Kilosa, data were collect in pastoral Maasai settlements [villages] of Twatwatwa, Kiduhi, Ngaiti, and Mabwegere, and pastoral Maasai women were central focus. Through ethnographic research methods namely focus group discussions, interviews, and participant observations, I have found that vulnerabilities to conflicts around land are gender differentiated, and that pastoral Maasai women experience climate change, food insecurity, and land reforms differently from men. An overall conclusion in this report is that, conflicts around land in Kilosa are intricate in nature and cannot be analysed from a single narrative, and pastoral Maasai women by virtue of their specific gender roles and the gender relations are hit hard. I therefore argue that, (1) for secure land reforms, the political, economic, and social structures through which land access is mediated must also be reformed; (2) there should be a holistic conflict mitigation approach and strategies in resolving conflict around land in Kilosa. The ap¬proaches should focus at engaging pastoralists and pastoralist women in particular, and their institutions and making them an integral part of the solutions. (3) Decisions dealing with climate change mitigation strategies such as the Kilosa eviction of 2009 should also involve pastoralist women whose livelihood depends directly and/or indirectly on climate sensitive resources; (4) the introduction of forage crops production [such as grasses and legumes] in Kilosa is imperative. This will assist in increasing pasture production, which eventually will boost livestock produc¬tion [livestock, the main preferred food source among the pastoral Maasai]. Equally, availability of forage crops within pastoralists reach reduces unplanned herd mobility, and at the same time lessens challenges that pastoralist women face in their responsibilities as default food managers.

Constitutionality of the law on sex work in India

The Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act is the main statute pertaining to sex work in India. It does not criminalise sex work as such (an individual worker is permitted to sell sex for merely her benefit in a place that is not near any public place in a discrete mode). However, it criminalises activities surrounding sex work, de facto criminalising sex work altogether. The Act punishes the sex worker (majority being women) but not the client (majority being men) unless the client is engaged in the activity in a public place. In this article, I contend that the ITPA violates the fundamental right to equality due to orthodox notions of patriarchal morality, that women are perceived to have certain gender specific roles, and that the judiciary reinforces these stereotypes reflecting an inherent bias towards sex work, indirectly discriminating against women.

Gender and Sports in Contemporary Society

The society expects males and females to adopt, believe in, and fulfill specific gender roles and stereotypes that have been established. Generally, males are expected to be strong, independent, and athletic, whereas females are expected to be quiet, obedient, attractive and nurturers. Society demands compliance to the enforced gender order. When these gender norms are violated, it is common for labels to be given, questions to be asked, and people to be ridiculed. Over the past few centuries, gender roles of men and women have started to change greatly in our society, and especially in the world of sports. Also, female athletes are beginning to establish themselves in the sports world. With the change in gender roles in our society, many female athletes have started to view themselves in a different manner. Even though women athletes have become more prominent in society, many wonder how these women feel about the evolution of gender roles, and how they have affected the perceptions of women athletes. In recent years, there has been a significant shift from advocating for ‘gender equity in sport’ towards using ‘sport for gender equity and personal development’. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n7p25

Evolution of sexes from an ancestral mating-type specification pathway.

Author SummarySexual differentiation in eukaryotes is manifested in two fundamentally different ways. Unicellular species may have mating types where gametes are morphologically identical but can only mate with those expressing a different mating type than their own, while multicellular species such as plants and animals have male and female sexes or separate reproductive structures that produce sperm and eggs. The relationship between mating types and sexes and whether or how an ancestral mating-type system could have evolved into a sexually dimorphic system are unknown. In this study we investigated sex determination in the multicellular green alga Volvox carteri, a species with genetic sex determination; we established the relationship of V. carteri sexes to the mating types of its unicellular relative, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Theoretical work has suggested that sexual dimorphism could be acquired by linkage of gamete size-regulatory genes to an ancestral mating-type locus. Instead, we found that a single ancestral mating locus gene, MID, evolved from its role in determining mating type in C. reinhardtii to determine either spermatogenesis or oogenesis in V. carteri. Our findings establish genetic and evolutionary continuity between the mating-type specification and sex determination pathways of unicellular and multicellular volvocine algae, and will enable a greater understanding of how a transcriptional regulator, MID, acquired control over a complex developmental pathway.

Women's careers in the Arab Middle East

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how women academics from the Arab Middle East enact their careers with reference to double-bounded contexts: academia as an institution encoding organizational career scripts and gender as another institution encoding specific gender roles. It is hoped that this cross-cultural perspective would broaden the understanding of careers beyond the economically advanced industrialized countries and better inform the current debate on the boundaryless career model.

Visual representation of gender in flood coverage of Pakistani print media

This paper studies gender representation in the visual coverage of the 2010 floods in Pakistan. The data were collected from flood visuals published in the most circulated mainstream English newspapers in Pakistan, Dawn and The News. This study analyses how gender has been framed in the flood visuals. It is argued that visual representation of gender reinforces the gender stereotypes and cultural norms of Pakistani society. The gender-oriented flood coverage in both newspapers frequently seemed to take a reductionist approach while confining the representation of women to gender, and gender-specific roles. Though the gender-sensitive coverage displayed has been typical, showing women as helpless victims of flood, it has aroused sentiments of sympathy among readers and donors, inspiring them to give immediate moral and material help to the affected people. This agenda set by media might be to exploit the politics of sympathy but it has the effect of endorsing gender stereotypes.