Abstract
Pandemics almost always stimulate both men and women, in essence, society at large. A society is not a constant entity; depending on its era and institutions, it evolves and fights all threats. However, in this era of skill and hyper-technological equipment, COVID-19 has proven to be an overpowering tremor, especially for homebound women who find themselves in an inferior structural position given the hierarchal inequality which is already identifiable in civil society. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has proven a new-fangled catalyst to sustain those inequalities and strengthen the fragility of gender inequality. Although both men and women have suffered during the Pandemic, the range and categories are starkly different; in particular, violence against women increases during epidemics, natural disasters, and economic downturns (Peterman 2020). Herewith gender inequality is situated habitually and tends to entire vulnerability, which is also perceived in the transnational cycle of gendered vulnerability (Fineman 2008). As Fineman also stated, arguably, women are born defenseless and become more feeble in the long run. It is also shown that they panic about natural calamities and epidemics. This panic ensued in the past two years of epidemic tenure.
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Notes
- 1.
An apparent ‘crisis’ in contemporary forms of masculinity, marked by uncertainties over social roles and identity, sexuality, work and personal relationships (R.W. Connell 2005).
- 2.
Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experience a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children.
- 3.
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- 4.
UNESCO, COVID-19 School closer around the world will hit girls the hardest. Retrieved at https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/covid-19-school-closures-around-world-will-hit-girls-hardest.
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Politico, retrieved at https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/22/coronavirus-pandemic-women-workforce-500329.
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WHO, “Violence against Women” (March, 2021).
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WHO, National Health Workers Accounts for 91 countries (2019) (https://www.who.int/data/gho/publications/world-health-statistics).
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The Guardian (2021, March 23), “Calls to domestic abuse helpline in England up by 60% over past year” (Retrieved at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/23/domestic-abuse-covid-lockdown-women-refuge).
- 10.
A Panopticon is a structure in the form of a circle, with an observation at the center; the purpose of the design of the Panopticon is to increase the security (often of a prison) through effective surveillance at the center. The Panopticon was conceptualized by philosopher Foucault in the sense outlined in the main text.
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Begum, A. (2023). COVID-19 and Its Impact on Women and Gender. In: Ishido, H., Mizushima, J., Kobayashi, M., Zhang, X. (eds) Social Fairness in a Post-Pandemic World. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9654-2_11
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