“Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Recent analyses of responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have posited that men’s dismissive attitudes toward the risks of the virus reflect their attempts to conform to masculine norms that valorize bravery and strength. In this article, the authors develop an alternative account of the g...

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Main Authors: Janani Umamaheswar, Catherine Tan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2020-10-01
Series:Socius
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120964376
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spelling doaj-342a9744f0434f8389a569766323007b2021-04-02T12:10:35ZengSAGE PublishingSocius2378-02312020-10-01610.1177/2378023120964376“Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 PandemicJanani Umamaheswar0Catherine Tan1Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USAVassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USARecent analyses of responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have posited that men’s dismissive attitudes toward the risks of the virus reflect their attempts to conform to masculine norms that valorize bravery and strength. In this article, the authors develop an alternative account of the gender differences in attitudes toward COVID-19. Drawing on three waves of in-depth interviews with college students and members of their households ( n = 45) over a period of 16 weeks (for a total of 120 interviews), the authors find that men and women in comparable circumstances perceive similar risks of COVID-19, but they diverge in their attitudes toward, and responses to, these risks. Connecting scholarship on gender and care work with research on risk, the authors argue that gender differences in attitudes toward risk are influenced by the unique and strenuous care work responsibilities generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which are borne primarily by women—and from which men are exempt.https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120964376
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Janani Umamaheswar
Catherine Tan
spellingShingle Janani Umamaheswar
Catherine Tan
“Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Socius
author_facet Janani Umamaheswar
Catherine Tan
author_sort Janani Umamaheswar
title “Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short “Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full “Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr “Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed “Dad, Wash Your Hands”: Gender, Care Work, and Attitudes toward Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort “dad, wash your hands”: gender, care work, and attitudes toward risk during the covid-19 pandemic
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Socius
issn 2378-0231
publishDate 2020-10-01
description Recent analyses of responses to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have posited that men’s dismissive attitudes toward the risks of the virus reflect their attempts to conform to masculine norms that valorize bravery and strength. In this article, the authors develop an alternative account of the gender differences in attitudes toward COVID-19. Drawing on three waves of in-depth interviews with college students and members of their households ( n = 45) over a period of 16 weeks (for a total of 120 interviews), the authors find that men and women in comparable circumstances perceive similar risks of COVID-19, but they diverge in their attitudes toward, and responses to, these risks. Connecting scholarship on gender and care work with research on risk, the authors argue that gender differences in attitudes toward risk are influenced by the unique and strenuous care work responsibilities generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which are borne primarily by women—and from which men are exempt.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120964376
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