Research on gender and climate change mostly focuses on the negative impacts on women and children, where men are portrayed as somewhat irresponsible, migrating to the cities and leaving behind helpless women to face multiple adversities. Based on data from the peri-urban Gorakhpur city in Uttar Pradesh, a nuanced approach is argued for instead, distinguishing between adaptation strategies of the landed and landless households, investigating the compulsions and decision-making processes behind male migration, and the coping strategies of the women left behind. Male migration, coupled with the women farming and dealing with markets directly, has changed gender relations in the region. New forms of patriarchy and resistance to the same are emerging even as men face crises of masculinity.
