Covid-19: Gendered Responses and Nationalism

Covid-19 and Gendered Responses

• Initial responses to COVID-19 restrictions revealed gendered differences, especially on government mandates concerning religious practices.
• Complementarianism, the ideology that men and women have distinct societal roles, reduces women's defiance of the state while significantly increasing men's defiance.
• Gendered nationalism surfaces when churches are closed, highlighting the intersection of gender ideology, religion, and politics.
• Women who are religious often adopt a literalist view of the Bible to assert themselves within the church, which can shield them from criticism but also isolate them from public life.
• Men become defenders of faith in the public sphere through this dynamic, linking masculine gender identity to the church.
• Men who felt that "America has grown too soft and feminine" were more likely to vote for Donald Trump in 2016, showing a consistent gendered political worldview.
• Gendered nationalism fuels the belief that churches should defy government orders to reopen, a view less common among women.
• The defiance was primarily among men, religious women typically did not join them, reinforcing traditional gender roles with men in the public sphere and women in the private sphere.

Masculinity and Mask-Wearing

• Men are consistently less likely to wear protective face masks.
• Men's gender identities significantly influence their views on mask-wearing, particularly when gender identity is highly salient.
• Democrats were more likely than Republicans to report wearing masks, but within these groups, there were no significant differences between men and women.
• Differences require gendered explanations, indicating a difference between masculine and feminine identities rather than biological sex.
• Research indicates that men may avoid health measures and treatment due to masculinity.
• Masculinity can lead men to forgo preventative health measures and avoid seeking treatment due to a desire to appear invulnerable.
• Gender identity has a more significant impact on men's attitudes than on women's, especially for men who consider their gender identity very important.
• Men who identify as "completely masculine" and view their gender identity as very important are less likely to support mask requirements.
• Masculine gender identities are fragile, and men often seek ways to assert their gender, potentially endangering others by signaling unconcern about getting sick.

Masculine Toughness and Mask-Wearing

• Men are more likely to resist wearing masks due to the desire to appear "tough".
• Masculine toughness correlates with more negative and fewer positive feelings about wearing masks.
• Masculinity correlates with engaging in risky activities, influenced by social pressures from family, peers, and school.
• Under conditions of threat, men express greater toughness and show different attitudes toward actions like help-seeking.
• Men and women who embrace masculine norms of toughness are equally likely to have negative feelings about wearing masks.

Male Supremacism and Anti-Statism

• Male supremacism is based on the idea that straight men are superior, justifying social and political control.
• Anti-statism opposes excessive government control over society, viewing it as a threat to individual freedom.
• Male supremacy is a central theme of right-wing anti-statism.
• "Bad" women, those who represent what male supremacists fear or covet, are vulnerable to violence and do not produce.
• Submissive women are considered "good" women who produce.

Male Supremacism in the U.S.

• Male supremacism is a system where cisgender men hold disproportionate power across various sectors.
• Backlash by white cisgender men who feel threatened by feminism & civil rights progress.
• The "Manosphere" refers to online male supremacist communities.
• Male supremacism is connected to the growth of the alt-right movement online and broader right-wing mobilizations since the 1990s.
• Phyllis Schafly played a key role in the anti-feminist and "pro-family" movement.
• Rise of Men's Rights Ideology.
• Trumps rhetoric on Male Supremacist Ideologies.

Inversive Sexism

• Inversive sexism is the belief that women have more privileges than men due to feminism.
• Inversive sexism challenges the claim that women primarily benefit from feminist progress.
• It predicts disbelief in sexual assault accusations and influences voting patterns.
• It is triggered by perceived challenges to gendered power dynamics, such as accusations of sexual assault.

Forms of Sexism

• Hostile sexism involves negative stereotypes that justify excluding women from high-status roles.
• Benevolent sexism presents subjectively positive views of women but still restricts their roles.
• Modern sexism is the denial of continued discrimination against women, marked by a lack of sympathy for women's demands and resentment toward gender equality.

Movements and Feminism

• Mens rights movement claims men are disadvantaged or victimized by feminism and society's shift towards gender equality.
• Equity Feminism views gender equality as largely achieved in the West, focusing more on individual rights than systemic gender issues.

Gendered Nationalism

• Political ideology that prioritizes a nation's interests over other groups', believes national interests supersede individual interests.
• Gendered nationalism is conceptions of the state or nation shape & are shaped by gender roles.
• Gendered nationalism affects: citizenship, national identity, sovereignty.

Gender Order Theory

• R.W. Connell's Gender Order Theory- recognizes multiple masculinities that vary by: time, society, culture, and individual.

Masculinity

• A social construct that refers to behaviors, roles & attributes considered appropriate for men.
• Masculinity is a form of power or identity.

Masculine Hegemony

• Masculine Hegemony prioritizes traits like: emotional suppression, aggression, competitiveness, power- the most socially prized way to “do” masculinity.
• Maintained by a patriarchal society that rests not only in power over women but also power over other forms of masculinity.

Descriptive Representation

• When a group elects someone who mirrors the group's frequent experiences and outward manifestations.
• Mirrors personal, politically relevant characteristics.
• Concerns what a representative IS.

Substantive Representation

• Occurs when representative opinions and actions reflect the wishes, needs, and interests of the voters/people they represent.
• Represents interest of groups
• Concerns what a representative DOES.

Initial COVID-19 responses showed gendered differences, particularly on religious practices. Complementarianism affects defiance levels toward state mandates. Gendered nationalism emerges with church closures, revealing the intersection of gender, religion, and politics.