Gender and drought: Experiences of Australian women in the drought of the 1990s

A unique collaborative, sociological study undertaken during 1995-7, explor ed the social construction of drought as a disaster, looking at farm famili es in two Australian states: Queensland (beef producers) and New South Wale s (sheep/wheat producers). A. decision was made to interview the women and men separately to test our hypothesis that there would be gender issues in any analysis of a disaster, but particularly one which has had so much long -term impact on individuals, families and communities, Such as drought, int erviews were conducted with over 100 individuals male and female, We conclu de that drought as a disaster is a gendered experience. The paper draws on the narratives of some women involved in the study to identify 'themes of d ifference' which confirm the necessity to maintain gender as a variable in all studies of the social impacts of disaster.