The Gendered Discourses of Climate Change: Oceanic Counter Frames

Abstract

This thesis examines the extent to which representations of Pacific Island peoples conform to hegemonic notions of femininity and masculinity in climate change discourse. The media, policy and scientific literatures cast Pacific peoples as victims on the frontline of global warming in spite of their own limited carbon emissions. Within this twofold narrative of victimhood and virtue, women are deemed both particularly vulnerable and especially virtuous. I argue that this framing is problematic, since it obscures Pacific agency and limits understandings, which then shape how climate change is approached. Through a discursive analysis of key cultural texts in the form of policy documents, documentary films and photography as well as poetry, I interrogate the prevailing notions of vulnerability and virtue and their gendered relation to the environment, with a focus on articulations of gender. Foreign and indigenous actors differ in their portrayals of Pacific persons, and their gendering as masculine and feminine. Numerous indigenous counter`frames challenge the discourse of vulnerability and even virtue. In essence, this thesis examines how climate change is gendered and framed by different actors, and consequently considers how we can expand on these frameworks to emphasise agency and action.