Gender and Drought: Experiences of Australian Women in the Drought of the 1990s.
Author:
Stehlik, D. Lawrence, G. & Gray, I.
Date:
2000
Language:
English
Region:
Oceania
Country:
Australia
Full Harvard Reference:
Stehlik, D. Lawrence, G. & Gray, I. (2000). Gender and Drought: Experiences of Australian Women in the Drought of the 1990s. Disasters. Vol 24, I 1. pp 38-53.
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). Over 100 women and men were interviewed separately to test the hypothesis that there would be gender issues in the analysis of a drought that has a long‐term impact on individuals, families and communities.. The paper draws on the narratives of some women involved in the study to identify ‘themes of difference’ which confirm that drought as a disaster is a gendered experience and the necessity to maintain gender as a variable in all studies of the social impacts of disaster.