–
Dr. AISHWARYA PREMAN
In 2014, when there was an Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, women were more likely to get infected and sick since they were the one who took care of the infected family members. Scenario is directly or indirectly same in case of COVID 19.
According to a recent analysis by McKinsey Global Institute, women are more vulnerable to COVID-19 related economic effects because of the already existing gender biases and women entrepreneurs and employees are suffering the negative impact of this crisis to a greater extent than men. The study states that in India female job loss rates owing to COVID-19 are about 1.8 times higher than the male job loss rates. Since 70% of Health care workers and front line workers are women they are at utmost risk of infection. Women bear the silent and essential burden during crises as primary providers of care at home and in health care settings. Lock down has had the most impact on mental and physical health of women.
The National Commission for Women has reported that domestic violence against women has reached the peak in the last two months. According to government data 55% women are not using public health services since the lockdown has begun. Young girls, adolescents, and adult women remain at greater risk of exclusion from the health system even after the pandemic.The number of malnourished women has been triggered. Psychological abuse and negligence of mental is the precursor which lead the mental health in women face the worst curve which include negative self-perception, persistent erratic mood, anxiety, inability to experience pleasure, difficulty with attention, memory loss, changes in appetite and sleep, fatigue, bodily pains, depression, suicidal thoughts. In addition to this, there has been an exponential increase unpaid care work with school closures and heightened care needs of family members at home. When it comes to the field education only 29% of Internet users in India are female, and there’s a tendency for families with limited means to give preference to boys for schooling. So this pandemic has wrecked womanhood pathetically in all possible ways.
Thus like any other dreadful crisis, this pandemic crisis is also gendered and females are high flown than men especially in a developing country like India. But the backbone of India is always a feminine spinal cord.70% of the frontline workers are women. The most auspicious festival of India, Dussehra was most realistic and authentic in 2020 because the Goddess has actually reached the earth for the aid of the devotees, saving them but the ornaments were not a diamond studded necklace and ring but a stethoscope, laryngoscope, khaki and even a broom.
The need of a feminist wave is manifested in a finer way by the success rates of the female governed countries like Taiwan, New Zealand, Germany and some Nordic countries. Whenever the world witnessed such a gender inconsistency or a threat to the womanhood the only salvation which came for the rescue was the waves of feminism. Thus it is prerequisite for the next wave of feminism to transpire before the upcoming wave of COVID or else the biases and inequality will be worsened than ever before.
Charles Fourier, an utopian socialist and French philosopher, realised the exigency of such a saviour and gave birth to the word “féminisme” in 1837. The words feminism and femifirst appeared in France and the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910.Types of feminism include liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, cultural feminism, eco feminism. Although initially it was coined to ensure the basic human rights for women, today it is a social moment which focuses on the betterment of the whole society. The women who fought for the right to vote called Suffragette are the very first examples of feminism.“Stri Purush Tulna” the very first feminist book of India written by Tarabai Shinde in 1882, has explained the need of feminism in a country like India.
During the bygone times gender relationships were based on a concept known as “separate spheres.” In separate spheres, it was stated that men and women each had useful and necessary roles to play in society, but those roles were specific and distinct. According to this concept man’s job was to represent the family unit in public and make decisions that affected the family, while the woman’s job was to maintain order in the home and raise the children. Until the late nineteenth century, most legal systems officially classified women with children and the criminally insane in having no legal identity.
As of 1850, women didn’t have the right to vote, initiate divorce ,pursue higher education, open bank accounts, or even raise voice against any kind of injustice done to her. This situation faced a down curve after the first wave of feminism occurred in the 19th century. It focused on legal issues and succeeded in achieving subject matters like securing women’s right to vote.
The second wave of feminism that materialised in 1960s to 1980s had a slogan, “The Personal is Political,” and it fought against women’s cultural and political inequalities. Although it had to face a lot of controversies, this wave lasted for more than two decades. The third wave began in early 1990 and continued till 2010 until the fourth wave stormed in. It primarily tried to bring in communities that were previously left out of feminist goals and recognize the intersectionality of oppression. The fourth wave was the first feminist uprising of the technology era which began in 2012 and focused on women empowerment by the use of internet tools, and is centered on intersectionality.
Thus a wave of feminism has emerged for the rescue whenever there was a threat to the women community and this time more than a wave, tsunami of feminism is required because the antagonist is a virus and the savior clang which arrives for the cure(the medical team) is also 70% feminine oriented.
As Mary Wollstonecraft, the author of “VINDICATION OF RIGHTS OF WOMAN”, the very first feminist book once quoted “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners – time to restore to them their lost dignity. It is time to separate unchangeable morals from local manners.”
