Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland

COVID-19 caused major changes in private and public arenas. Individuals were forced to reorganise their daily lives in response to the restrictive measures imposed by governments. The redistribution of gender roles and the responsibility for care provides an example of the reconfigurations that took...

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Autores principales:	Nolwenn Bühler, Mélody Pralong, Cloé Rawlinson, Semira Gonseth, Valérie D’Acremont, Murielle Bochud, Patrick Bodenmann
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	care activities COVID-19 pandemic gender inequality moral responsibility protective measures safeguarding role Sociology (General) HM401-1281
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/dd01fd0143684d9793111d9a895ce7ff
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:dd01fd0143684d9793111d9a895ce7ff2021-11-05T14:50:35ZCaring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland2297-777510.3389/fsoc.2021.737619https://doaj.org/article/dd01fd0143684d9793111d9a895ce7ff2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2021.737619/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2297-7775COVID-19 caused major changes in private and public arenas. Individuals were forced to reorganise their daily lives in response to the restrictive measures imposed by governments. The redistribution of gender roles and the responsibility for care provides an example of the reconfigurations that took place during the pandemic. This article sheds light on the implications of the pandemic for gender inequalities by exploring how care work was reconfigured as women and men sought to protect family members and navigated risks of infection. The study is based on qualitative data – interviews and observations – gathered in an interdisciplinary medical anthropology project. In the article, the authors focus on seven cases selected from a larger corpus to illustrate how reconfigurations of the gendered division of care work within families shifted during the pandemic as men assumed greater moral responsibility for safeguarding family members, without infringing the norms of masculinity. The first part of the article explores the intensification of care activities during lockdown for women living in the Canton de Vaud in Switzerland. The second part centres on the moral responsibility and duty for women and men to protect family members from viral exposure. The results from the study confirm not only that most care activities continued to be delegated to female family members, but also that men’s roles evolved. While their safeguarding role can be understood as a new form of caring for men, the findings suggest that it was essentially crisis specific and did not challenge masculinity norms. The extent to which this reconfiguration of gender roles might have a longer-term impact on gender inequalities remains to be seen. Meanwhile, these observations could have important implications for policies aimed at mitigating the medium and long-term effects of the pandemic on gender inequality.Nolwenn BühlerNolwenn BühlerMélody PralongMélody PralongCloé RawlinsonSemira GonsethValérie D’AcremontValérie D’AcremontMurielle BochudMurielle BochudPatrick BodenmannPatrick BodenmannFrontiers Media S.A.articlecare activitiesCOVID-19 pandemicgender inequalitymoral responsibilityprotective measuressafeguarding roleSociology (General)HM401-1281ENFrontiers in Sociology, Vol 6 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	care activities COVID-19 pandemic gender inequality moral responsibility protective measures safeguarding role Sociology (General) HM401-1281
spellingShingle	care activities COVID-19 pandemic gender inequality moral responsibility protective measures safeguarding role Sociology (General) HM401-1281 Nolwenn Bühler Nolwenn Bühler Mélody Pralong Mélody Pralong Cloé Rawlinson Semira Gonseth Valérie D’Acremont Valérie D’Acremont Murielle Bochud Murielle Bochud Patrick Bodenmann Patrick Bodenmann Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
description	COVID-19 caused major changes in private and public arenas. Individuals were forced to reorganise their daily lives in response to the restrictive measures imposed by governments. The redistribution of gender roles and the responsibility for care provides an example of the reconfigurations that took place during the pandemic. This article sheds light on the implications of the pandemic for gender inequalities by exploring how care work was reconfigured as women and men sought to protect family members and navigated risks of infection. The study is based on qualitative data – interviews and observations – gathered in an interdisciplinary medical anthropology project. In the article, the authors focus on seven cases selected from a larger corpus to illustrate how reconfigurations of the gendered division of care work within families shifted during the pandemic as men assumed greater moral responsibility for safeguarding family members, without infringing the norms of masculinity. The first part of the article explores the intensification of care activities during lockdown for women living in the Canton de Vaud in Switzerland. The second part centres on the moral responsibility and duty for women and men to protect family members from viral exposure. The results from the study confirm not only that most care activities continued to be delegated to female family members, but also that men’s roles evolved. While their safeguarding role can be understood as a new form of caring for men, the findings suggest that it was essentially crisis specific and did not challenge masculinity norms. The extent to which this reconfiguration of gender roles might have a longer-term impact on gender inequalities remains to be seen. Meanwhile, these observations could have important implications for policies aimed at mitigating the medium and long-term effects of the pandemic on gender inequality.
format	article
author	Nolwenn Bühler Nolwenn Bühler Mélody Pralong Mélody Pralong Cloé Rawlinson Semira Gonseth Valérie D’Acremont Valérie D’Acremont Murielle Bochud Murielle Bochud Patrick Bodenmann Patrick Bodenmann
author_facet	Nolwenn Bühler Nolwenn Bühler Mélody Pralong Mélody Pralong Cloé Rawlinson Semira Gonseth Valérie D’Acremont Valérie D’Acremont Murielle Bochud Murielle Bochud Patrick Bodenmann Patrick Bodenmann
author_sort	Nolwenn Bühler
title	Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
title_short	Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
title_full	Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
title_fullStr	Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
title_full_unstemmed	Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland
title_sort	caring during covid-19: reconfigurations of gender and family relations during the pandemic in switzerland
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/dd01fd0143684d9793111d9a895ce7ff
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Caring During COVID-19: Reconfigurations of Gender and Family Relations During the Pandemic in Switzerland

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