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.

You are right. But let’s be honest. It is mostly women carrying the domestic burden. It is nice to have it recognised. For once.

Interesting point plan - I agree that of course many men are fighting this, but by "burden" I assume they mean the "invisible work" that women never get acknowledged for. I used to be at med school so know a lot of doctors. Most of the female docs I know, unless they are becoming GPs, have put off having kids so far (we are mid 30s) as they don't have the time to take care of kids and advance their career. Many of the male doctors by contrast got married and had kids while still at med school and didn't even miss a beat because their wives immediately took over everything. Many of them are now working round the clock, which is amazing, but they all have a wife at home facilitating it. And why am I not a doctor myself, doing heroic work on the front line? Because I became pregnant during my studies and had to drop out. I was not the only woman on my course to drop out for this reason. So I appreciate the shout out from the WHO, that my contribution is valuable even if I'm just a SAHM rather than a doctor.

It would have been better maybe if instead of just "shining a spotlight" on the work women are doing, they actively encouraged men to share the load. Let's be real, most men are not front line doctors fighting the virus, most* men are sitting about taking the piss out of their wives for making sure they have enough nappies, then complaining when the football is cancelled.

*NAMALT

@crazydiamond me too, and I'm tandem feeding. So if me or kids get ill we have to take to our bed together (including energetic toddler) whereas husband could go in another room. And oh god if either of them needed hospital I'd be screwed.

Definitely continue breastfeeding. You don’t want to be reliant on formula. Formula fed babies are more likely to get ill.

Condoms? You're not meant to have sex if you're infected.

I agree it is mostly women doing the invisible work, and it is nice to be recognised. But I felt the tweet was also subtly enforcing the gender role that the invisible work is women’s work. I’d rather have seen the tweet recognise all the invisible work without gendering it. If you thank the doctors you don’t tweet out let’s all recognise the fearless men who are working tirelessly to save their patients. You tweet out, let’s all recognise the fearless doctors. They could have done the same here, recognised the importance of the work without gendering it as women’s work. Just like when you recognise nurse or teachers, we all know the professions are women dominated but you don’t gender it because that communicates oh, that is women’s work, the “burden” of being a woman. Which implies that this work is not work for men to do or their burden.

@Siameasy evidence for that claim about formula fed babies? Or just predictable formula bashing...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2812877/

It’s pretty mainstream information londonlife. Shouldn’t be controversial to state what is true, even if people don’t want to hear it. The link to NEC is well known and no one has the right not to be offended, particularly by something factual.

If you’re going to be annoyed by it be annoyed that the truth is withheld from you, repackaged as “breast is best” nonsense and wonder why that might be 🤔

@Siameasy I'm aware of he generic stuff yes. Do you have any evidence that formula fed babies are more likely to get ill from corona? I though that was your implication.

Definitely continue breastfeeding. You don’t want to be reliant on formula. Formula fed babies are more likely to get ill.

I think the biggest issue is panic buying of formula and not being able to buy it. No evidence at all that FF puts baby at risk from coronavirus as very young children are less badly affected. Please be sensitive about what you post there will be scared mums who are FF.

In answer to the question OP I think Ireland sums it up. All the men who've been to the Cheltenham festival are flying back, during which time the schools have been closed 🤷🏻‍♀️. Make it the problem of women and children.

MN is depressing as well it's about 'competitive goodness' rather than pulling together and recognising all actions have consequences in the bigger picture (including closing schools, leisure centres, not going on holiday etc) Women having a go at women, I think it is one of the big powers that patriarchy has.

We also don't know that in the UK more men will die the smoking rates in China are massively higher in men.

Siamesy if you want to go on about the benefits of breastfeeding start a new thread.

Have you read the thread tea? I mentioned BF because someone upthread asked about BFing. How is that “going on about breastfeeding”? Honestly “start a new thread” is laughable. The topic is about women and you aren’t in charge of what I say.

I said formula fed babies get ill more often. Don’t people deserve to know the truth even if it offends them? So they can make a fully informed choice?

It is not uncommon for BFing mothers to be told they need to stop BFing for all sorts of so-called health reasons when it is usually not necessary to stop.

The concern for domestic abuse victims will be very real. I am a survivor and the year before I left we got isolated because if snow. It was hell, I couldn't escape with the baby and toddler and he was supposedly working at home. It was very stressful, intense and scary. The Freedom Programme uses the term The Jailer and many women will find themselves trapped if self isolation happens. Just awful to think about.

A pregnant woman on the CV thread has started a post because a man in his 50s purposely coughed in her face.

She was sat on a bench about to eat (applied sanitiser) and he laughed and made a joke about her being scared, then coughed in her face.

There's no way he'd have done that to a man.

Yep. Sinister. Poor woman.

Yep I've read the thread thank you.

Wtf middleager?! That's so fucked up!! What the fuck is wrong with some men?! Absolutely right he wouldn't have dared do it to a man, but he obviously did it because she was also pregnant to really scare her. That has filled me with so much fucking rage!

What the fuck is wrong with men? NAMALT, obviously. But seriously, why would anyone do that? And the added thrill he got from scaring a pregnant woman.

Lots of the front-line NHS staff are female. Most nurses and a majority of younger doctors are women. And if this gets as bad as Italy, some of them will die.

But hey, it’s not our biology that is at the root of our oppression.No.

I know Bygrab

On the shopping thread some man called his wife a "stupid bitch (or cunt)" because she missed the toilet roll being put out.

Bumping my own thread because I've just checked in my old breastfeeding group on fb and it's full of women pumping extra milk to donate to milk banks for people who can't get formula atm.

I also spent yesterday getting angry over loads of threads where women were saying their husbands/boyfriends were refusing to do social distancing or even practise basic levels of hand hygiene despite them (the women) being in a high group.

This thread felt like the right place for both these observations.

Now the schools are closing I would be surprised if the pressure of juggling childcare and work doesn't disproportionately fall on mothers. Middle class professional women who can work from home will have to do so whilst simultaneously caring for the kids. Namalt, obviously, but I know from experience men will be less likely to change their own work arrangements to accommodate childcare. Women in lower skilled work, on zero hours contracts or work that can't be done from home will be the first to lose their jobs or have to give them up because of childcare.

I was thinking earlier about abortion and what the implications are there. I am not sure whether abortion providers will be particularly affected (I don't know), but isolation and social distancing must result in an increase in unwanted pregnancy and a decrease in abortion, I just haven't worked through why that may be so.

crazydiamond222 and others - I’m just coming in to say I have breastfed through the flu, and a horrible stomach bug when my DD was down to waking up x2 a night (she was a terror from
3-5 months). It was perfectly doable, although obviously not ideal.

If both parents are ill at the same time then in my experience it’s actually much easier than having to make bottles etc and the general childcare bit is much harder if you feel like absolute hell.

I’m not worrying about my children catching it. It’s so contagious I don’t see how it could be avoided.