Male mortality is known to be lower than female mortality in South Asia in the normal times. But it has also been observed that during the crisis periods, this ordering is reversed. The experience of the 1974 famine of Bangladesh, as analysed in this study, confirms this reversal of relative mortality rates. But the usual explanations offered for this reversal are not borne out by the data pertaining to Bangladesh. Several other alternative explanations are explored, but cannot be confirmed due to the lack of appropriate data.