Roxcy Bolton, Gender & Naming Hurricanes
This is the first week of the hurricane season and the potential names have been announced. The list includes male and female names. That wasn’t always the case. Prior to the Women’s Liberation Movement, hurricanes were only named for women.
Miami feminist Roxcy Bolton (pictured below) played a central role in changing the policy. She got tired of reading headlines about hurricanes with women’s names destroying communities. Instead, she suggested that hurricanes be named for senators – since they like to name things after themselves.
Roxcy put up a significant fight with government officials. By 1979, the policy was changed to alternate women and men’s names when it came to naming hurricanes. Here is a story that provides some background.
Roxcy was a friend of Miami Herald women’s page editor Marie Anderson.
