Deconstructing and Expanding Gender Roles: Theological Reflections on Women and Local Disaster Response

The situation of women during and after local disasters may, at first, seem unrelated to feminist theology, but this article argues that a critical reflection on the matter helps the Church further understand the relationship between men, women, and the rest of creation. In the context of two Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) documents entitled “What is Happening to Our Beautiful Land?” (1988) and “Upholding the Sanctity of Life” (2008), this article will analyze and articulate the gender ideologies that seem to underpin how women and nature are understood, using the reflections on the situation of women in disasters as well as a reconstructionist feminist liberationist framework. From there, recommendations will also be given as to what the Church can do further for everyone, given this article’s analysis and reflection