BACK TO NORMAL - GENDER AND DISASTER

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