From Vulnerability to Resilience: an Exploration of Gender Performance Art and how it has Enabled Young women's Empowerment in Post-hurricane new Orleans

AbstractThis research provides a qualitative account of how one group of LGBTQ young women created a space for empowerment in Post Katrina and Post Isaac New Orleans. There is very little research on sexualities in post-disaster settings but what does exist indicates that LGBTQ people have post-disaster experiences that are specific to their sexualities. There is further concern that LGBTQ people may be a highly vulnerable group due to pre-existing social and cultural discrimination. The case is also similar for youth. Much research exists on the needs of children post-disaster but very little addresses those who could be classed as ‘young adults.’ This paper begins to fill this void and explores how gender performance has enabled a group of disaster-affected young women to ‘write their own bodies’ and challenge traditional gender roles and relations