The University of Illinois has just released a breakthrough study that cites a gender bias in hurricanes and their perception.
First, who cares? But ... research has a way of seeking the level of available funding.
So now we know that, of the 94 hurricanes that hit the U.S. since 1950, the ones with female names killed more people.
The study concluded that a hurricane with a male name might kill 15 people on average, whereas a storm named after (what is apparently not in this instance) the fairer sex would put 42 citizens in the ground.
First, someone should have pointed out to the crack group of researchers that it wasn’t until 1979 that the weather gurus added men’s names to the list. So, using data beginning in 1950 radically skews the numbers ... and, may be just a little sexist in the process. Girls just can’t get a break.
Second, any hurricane historian will tell you that hurricanes, or any other type of natural disasters, 65 years ago killed more people than they do today. Building codes were not what they are. And meteorology has made a few improvements in the past six decades, including satellite-tracking and computer-modeling. Oh yeah, we have TVs now, too.
Additionally, Sandy was included in the list of hurricanes and the overall death toll — and she was not a hurricane: Never more than a tropical storm. Don’t let facts get in the way of a really good research project. Did we mention that the study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences? The prestigious publication apparently is less concerned with questions of climate change than a glass ceiling for lady storms.
But the study does not end here in flaw-la land.
It also measured the perception of a hurricane’s danger, based on sex — not of the participants, but of the storms. It found that its study group tended to take threats more to heart if the hurricane carried a man’s name. In other words, they were less likely to prepare for Hurricane Dolly than Hurricane Duke. Alberto would be more threatening than Alberta.
Of course, none of this is fair to women, who should be recognized as being just as randomly malevolent as their male counterparts. At the same time, it’s a crippling stereotype for men everywhere who have worked hard to become more domesticated in this new millennium.
We believe all of this could be straightened out if we remove the gender card from the deck altogether. How about using inter-gender names, thus tricking the storms into a state of confusion.
We could have Hurricanes Kelly, Terry, Robin, Jordan, Pat, Jean, Dana, Jamie or Noel. But until the World Meteorological Association becomes thusly enlightened we’ll have to stick with the status quo.
FYI, the lineup this year is: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana (don’t we all hope this is not a bad one?), Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred. Our guess? Watch out for Big Bertha. She’s no lady.