Women in a pandemic context: A theoretical-political essay about house and warfare

Abstract

In this essay, we aim to think about the pandemic from the women's situation, by analyzing how the health crisis theoretically and politically operates the concepts of house and warfare. The house tenses borders between public and private spheres, especially when considering the issue of violence against women and the domestic work. As the strategy that has been used to combat coronavirus, warfare triggers concepts of masculinity. That withdraws women from political decision-making spaces, even though they are at the forefront fighting the pandemics as health workers and among other essential services. However, the warfare discourse also enables to expose attacks against women during a period if crisis. These devices are being used to direct social commotion and create a hierarchy over which lives matter. Thus, we highlight the importance of reading gender relations as a transversal issue in the construction of public policies during and after the pandemic.