CORONAVIRUS AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Sefa TAŞKIN

It cannot be denied that the recent coronavirus pandemic negatively influenced our lives. Although the governments undertook more responsibilities and took many preventions to limit the speed of this virus’s spread, people who worked part-time or did not have a stable income, women, and migrations are badly affected by this pandemic. Because many firms had to dismiss the workers, economic indicators showed us that the world’s economy does not give enough material resources for all populations even if the governments do not develop a new idea to overcome this pandemic. Compared to the other groups in the society, woman’s responsibilities both in their homes and firms radically enhanced; also, many politicians used this pandemic as a tool to ignore societal problems, like child bride or deprivation and violence against women. This pandemic indicated to us that women do not have the right as much as the man. Also, the existing rights were not effectively used by women, such as freedom of speech. The main reason for this is the patriarchal social structure and capitalist mode of production (Bryson, 2003). This paper aims to shell light on the relationship between women’s rights and the coronavirus pandemic. We also try to answer the question of:’’How did the coronavirus pandemic influence woman’s lives?”

Firstly, there are different theories about women’s rights; that is, women’s rights cannot be conceptualized as a whole. Although the First Wave of Feminist movement (liberal feminism) emphasized the importance of women’s participation in political and economic life, later, Marxist feminism took into account the relationship between women and the capitalist mode of production (Fraser, 2009). From the Marxist perspective, the main reason women had difficulty using their rights was society’s patriarchal structure. Domestic violence that women were subject to should not have ignored. Moreover, the existing system did not allow women to have equal rights as much as the man. As a result, this system had to be changed. Without creating an egalitarian society, violence against women and the harmful dissociation of women compared to men in economic and political life were still going. However, liberal feminism did not ignore international institutions’ power, such as the United Nations or the European Union, regarding women’s rights and protection (Fraser, 2013). There was a distinction between public and private life. Women could be a part of political and economic life; with effective cooperation of international institutions and the central governments, women’s participation in the economy could have enhanced. Influences of Enlightenment over the liberal feminist approach can be seen without difficulty. However, the significance of the acquisition of rights by women should not be ignored. On the other hand, the liberal feminist approach has difficulty explaining the relationship between the woman and the capitalist mode of production (Hartmann, 1979). Women did not earn as much money as the man; also, the women’s vertical movement in either a public institution or a private firm is so low that many big companies’ managers were men (Haberfin, 2019). The dominance of the man over women in a public institution is another problem (TBMM, 2013). The postmodern feminist approach also evaluates the different aspects of women’s struggles; we should talk about women’s struggles as a whole, not with a limited concept, such as violence and authority. For the postmodernist, there is a difference between women and men in evaluating moral issues. As a result, women may be more visible if more women managers participate in politics and economic life.

Secondly, this pandemic badly influenced women’s situation. That is, many people had to stay in their homes to protect themselves from this pandemic. However, women’s responsibility is enhanced because compared to the past, women had to undertake more duties while men spend their time in the home; they do not tend to help the woman. The concepts of “privacy” and “private space” were ignored; in addition to this, women who are part of economic life had to work more because the recent pandemic limits their production capacity. As a result, to produce more and lessen economic expenditures, employers made laborers work more. When we consider the cost of living, high inflation, and unemployment, women’s situation can be understood. The dismissal of workers was limited in many countries such as Turkey; however, most workers were taken off unpaid leave. Women are regarded as housewives in society, a worker in the firm and a mother in the home; on the other hand, society does not offer the rights as responsibilities. Also, the patriarchal societies, such as Oman and Jordan, make women act and behave by some values and norms; these societies define “women.” In other words, women should dress, smile, behave, live, and even die in the light of the society’s norms. Moreover, restrictions, passive participation of women in society, and problems that emerged with the coronavirus pandemic resulted in many societal problems. For example, the number of people who desired to divorce his/her spouse increased (Yılmaz, 2020). It can be argued that there are different reasons for this. However, increasing pressures that women encountered, conflict among spouses, and dominance of the man also played an important role in this process’s duration. While many countries carry out “state of emergency” and limit the freedom to go out, women can organize with effective usage of social media channels; also, they can protest this patriarchal structure with effective usage of social channels.

To sum up, by considering the information mentioned above, it cannot be rejected that the recent coronavirus pandemic restricted women’s freedoms and rights. In contrast, women do not use their rights in a normal situation; the coronavirus has received the woman’s rights. It cannot be denied that women’s struggle against both the State and the man must maintain (McLaughlin, 2003) because this struggle plays a vital role in women’s future and women’s existence in society because the society regards the women as passive element.

References

Bryson, V. (2003), Feminist Political Theory: An Introduction, 2nd Ed., Palgrave Macmillan, NY.

Hartmann, H. I. (1979), “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a more

Fraser, N. (2009), “Feminism, Capitalism and the Cunning of History”, New Left Review, Vol. 56, pp. 97–117

Fraser, N. (2013), Fortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis, London, NY, Verso

Haberfin. (2019, Aralık 24). Büyük Şirketlerin Üst Düzey Yöneticilerinin Çoğu Erkek. Retrieved from https://www.haberfin.com/ekonomi/2019/12/24/4185/

McLaughlin, J. (2003), Feminist Social and Theory: Political Contemporary Debates and Dialogues, Palgrave Macmillan, NY.

TBMM. (2013). Her Alandaki Kadın İstihdamının Artırılması ve Çözüm Önerileri Komisyon Raporu. Ankara.

Yılmaz, E. (2020, Mart 9). Çin’de karantina günlerinde boşanmalar arttı. Retrieved from Çin Haber: https://cinhaber.net/guncel/cinde-karantina-gunlerinde-bosanmalar-artti-h5606.html