December 2, 2014
Dr. Carmela Coccimiglio
ENG1100
You Are Woman, I Am Man: The Need for a Gendered Look at Natural Disaster Efforts Gender roles have long stood to compartmentalize and restrict people. They do not serve, they constrict. Traditional gender roles for women allow them to become specific targets in situations like natural disasters. Gender roles and social norms have allowed women to fall victim to unhealthy lifestyles and, in the case of 60 per cent of Sri Lankan women, domestic violence (VW). Women are natural targets in times of natural disaster, and the effects of disaster on the genders are not equal. Examples from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami that affected Sri Lanka confirm the vulnerable perspective of women and the need for gendered approaches to disaster relief efforts. Governments must take responsibility for gender differences in times of natural disaster, as the existing efforts are allowing women to be overlooked and abused. While women generally live longer than men, the gap in life expectancy is considerably narrowed by the prevalence of female deaths in natural disasters (GD). Women are physically weaker than men, and stereotypically, men 's jobs requite more physical exercise (GN). IN Sri Lanka, swimming and climbing …show more content…
In the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, many Muslim women were afraid to leave the home without head covering, and social dress codes constricted women 's movement (GD; GN). Women around the world are conditioned to become docile and subservient. Traditional gender roles dictate that women have a responsibility to care for children and the elderly, placing others needs before their own (VW). In these ways, women become more vulnerable to natural