Effects of corona virus on women

[ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings]

Just thinking about the ways the virus and measures taken to combat it will effect women. The first thing that come to mind is that if children need time off school/ elderly people need caring for, it'll disproportionatly be women providing that care and probably taking time off work to do it. The second things is the way isolation and domestic abuse will correlate. Women in violent and abusive relationships will be trapped at home with their abuser in an increasingly tense claustrophobic environment. No chance of even escaping to a friends or him going for a walk to calm down. I can imagine that a lot of women will experience their first episode of violence if a long lockdown is initiated. It's also a controlling abusers dream situation. I have a friend whose husband is extremely controlling and does anything he can to limit and control her movements. He's basically got her imprisoned inside atm and won't let her go out til CV is over - for her own safety, of course . Shockingly there's no need for him to self isolate yet, but her and their kid absolutely must be in the house 24/7. It's like all his Christmases have come at once. It's the perfect excuse for abusers to isolate their partners from friends, family, maybe even a way to force them to give up work. And worst of all I don't even know if these effects can be mitigated.

As someone who is currently working from home while looking after three kids while DH is shut away in his office, I endorse this message!

There's some debate though isn't there over whether women are less likely to get it because of biological reasons, or because the data for that has come from countries where women's freedom and movement is much more restricted that mens. Also countries where many many more men smoke.

But regardless of why they get it, yes I suspect a fair few women may find themselves widowed and may not currently have the legal protections they need for that eventuality.

Also the advice to stay away from other family members. I breastfeed and cosleep with my 1 year old so that's not really possible for me! It's definitely a worry about getting sick. And you're right, SAHM can't exactly just take the day off sick!

Thanks Neuro, the link is really helpful . It looks like I should try to track down a mask to feed in if I do get ill.

@crazydiamond222 4 months is the worst part of bfeeding by far. They are fussy, hungry and much more aware. It will get better soon. I'd suggest avoid early weaning because breast milk is always available, never runs out, comforting if they're ill, great for immune system etc.

I have friends who work and send money home to support (usually elderly) relatives abroad, if anything happens to them, their relatives will starve.

The data showed just as many women caught the virus as men but men were almost twice as likely to die. I did also read that more men were smokers than women. But no ones sure yet how much being a smoker would affect the death rate.

Yes, women need to make sure their affairs are in order including their partners. We all know how men can procrastinate paperwork!

I think advice is that if one person in household gets sick, the whole household has to isolate. So, it would be very difficult to stay away from each other. Luckily I have older teens and they almost live in their rooms.

A good point is that while flu usually takes the very young and elderly, this virus is not attacking children. It appears, the younger you are the less your chances of dying and more likely you’ll have mild symptoms. So it may not be as much nursing as say, chicken pox. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

My sister has cancelled visiting grandparents over Easter. She doesn’t want to endanger the grandparents.

I had a panic over feeding and cosleeping with my toddler and all this; actually when I first start to get sick it's highly likely that he's already been exposed to the virus no matter how much we are washing hands etc. So I'm going to be providing him with extra antibodies which ever of us gets sick soonest.

The areola apparently absorbs things like viruses etc and the breasts create the antibodies in response. Supposed to have evolved from our immune system.

Please do make sure you're taking vitamin d and get the baby drops for baby though. We need extra when feeding and the nhs recommendation is for bf babies too. There's a vit d good spray from h and b or amazon. Good Vit d levels have been shown to be benificial in viral chest infections.

I was thinking about this, too, though I hadn’t made the link with domestic violence until you pointed that out, grabthar

I think you’re right in terms of the mental load. At my workplace, those staff who can have to work from home at the moment, and the complaining from some men is epic. There are a number of them who apparently rely on using the excuse of work to get them out of all child and domestic related issues, and they are Not Happy! They’re having to take children to school, and cook dinners and all sorts.

The women with young children are mostly coming across frazzled and talking about stockpiling gin.

I second the vitamin D recommendation. It’s essential for immune systems and we are all probably low due to just coming through winter.

It's been interesting in my house to see how clueless DH is about basic protective measures. DS was self isolating, but DH and DS1 both went in his room, emptied his bin etc. It's clear now DS didn't have CV, but he could have and DH and DS1 did not know the protocols.

It seems to be something women find out about more than men.

More generally, every negative event disproportionately impacts the most marginal people. So yes.

That's interesting plan, I didn't know women and men were equally likely to get it but less likely to die.

Sophecles I can well believe that a lot of men shirk domestic tasks by "working" and pretending to do over time. My own dp is terrible for this. There's always some very urgent email that suddenly needs responding to as soon as a nappy needs changing at the weekend. He's good at housework and does love the kids, but is always looking for an excuse to be upstairs on his laptop and "work" is very convenient for that. Does my fucking head in.

I agree with whoever said not to wean off breast milk if possible. If everyone goes mental and stockpiles formula so that it runs put you'll be very glad to have milk on tap!

I was thinking about this.

Am also braced for a litany of complaints about how working mums are causing all the issues by not being at home to facilitate school closures.....

Yes I expect there will be plenty of people saying that soon enough! The sad thing is though that if every family had 2 parents with one of them at work and the other at home, then things would be a lot smoother. That "traditional" set up could have been really good. But then men decided that it had to be the woman at home, and used our financial dependence to abuse and control us. And society made it easy for them to fuck off at the drop of a hat without any ongoing contribution to their children, leaving loads of women as single parents. And the work we did at home and in the community as treated as worthless and left unsupported, unvalued, and renumerated. And so now, shockingly, most women don't want anything to do with that kind of set up and most choose to work. Society can't have it both ways! Either being a SAHP is a valuable necessary contribution to society which we should be trying to make an economically viable choice for one parent to make, or its shit work, only worth doing by women, and its your own fault if you end up financially dependent on an abusive man.

I'm actually the one a bit more laid back about viruses etc even though I have asthma. Years of working in schools taught me hand washing works but also, the buggers 🦠 get in via all ways.

Dh is very anxious about them as he doesn't understand the biology and immunity etc and so the explanations everywhere has been helpful at the least for him. I've been saying soap is the best thing for years.

We have worked out thiugh, he could self isolate completely binging on Netflix for a week or two- but I couldn't because of the toddler. Of course.

Though toddler is very daddy centric and after a magnificent tantrum today over a very minor thing, I'd like to see how that pans out...

Can I add the impact the virus will have on us older women too, those in their 50s or 60s. Many of us are already do much of the care for elder parents/relatives and this will only increase due to self isolation, lack of outside care staff and lack of any specialist provision should our elderly relatives become.

Good point upthread about how, by the time you or the baby gets CV symptoms the other will already have been exposed, so you may as well keep ng breastfeeding.

I have a couple of rather immature male relatives (in their 40s, still living at home with their mother). Been spouting for weeks how it's all nonsense- why are people buying extra stuff etc.

Now Football been cancelled, it is affecting their lives....

Neurotrash
“We have worked out thiugh, he could self isolate completely binging on Netflix for a week or two- but I couldn't because of the toddler”.

But the virus will make you sicker as you have asthma, With a 6.3% death rate for people with lung conditions, I would personally plan on the husband caring for the toddler, not you. Why can’t he care for the toddler? My husband took care of toddler and newborn once for three months straight when I was away on a long business trip. Men can do these things you know....

Well not quite newborn, she was six months old then.

Bygrab,
Yes it is interesting that men have higher risk of dying than women from covid-19.

My husband joked that all the years of men and their “man-Flu” whining have resulted in the universe granting them a real man-Flu to contend with.

Even the way it’s assumed is bloody annoying.

I was listening to the radio this morning and they said one of the reasons schools aren’t closing is because it would affect the NHS. Guy then said something like there wouldn’t be enough nurses because they’d be at home looking after the kids.

Yes I know there are male nurses but they are massively outnumbered by females.

Gave me the rage.

I agree the assumption that women will be looking after the kids is annoying. But equally I found the WHO tweet upthread just as annoying by asking us all to recognise the womens work blah blah and the last sentence “women are carrying this burden” sent me raging. Like no man is working the front lines against this disease. Like the male Chinese doctor who identified this disease and raised the alarm and then DIED from it never existed. I just felt like the WHO should not be tweeting a world wide thank you to all women without also doing one thanking men. I also feel like they are making huge assumptions about and low key enforcing gender roles. Like you’re not doing your job as a woman if you’re not doing the caring work or nursing. It’s like that WWI Kitchener poster pointing at men saying “your country needs you” if you’re a man your duty is to enlist and go die in a trench. It seems it is a call to women to get in the trenches against COVID but in an approved feminine role.

Good point plan, hadn't seen it like that.

Why can’t he care for the toddler?
He absolutely could but I'm still breastfeeding said toddler and cosleeping.