Gender expressions in the care and COVID-19 prevention process during the pandemic: reflections from and to social occupational therapy

Abstract

This article discusses the expressions of gender in the care and prevention process of COVID-19 and seeks to explain the manifestations of sexism in issues related to the changes in daily life caused by the pandemic, in addition to reflecting on the possibilities  of  actions  of  occupational  therapy  in  this  context.  The  investigation presented in this article unfolded from a broader project, entitled: “Inequalities and vulnerabilities    in    the    COVID-19    epidemic:    monitoring,    analysis,    and    recommendations”, carried out between May and November 2020, whose general objective was to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in more vulnerable neighborhoods  of  the  municipalities  where  the  study  was  carried  out.  The  methodology  was  based  on  the  use  of  material  produced  in  the  field  research  process; this is a qualitative study that focused on the information obtained through conversation  circles,  interviews,  application  of  questionnaires,  the  production  of  reports  and  field  diaries,  and  the  articulation  of  this  material  with  theoretical  references  that  favor  social  occupational  therapy  and  gender  studies.  Among  the  results,  it’s  possible  to  highlight  the  different  ways  in  which  men  and  women  comprehended  the  period  and  established  their  ways  of  life  in  the  pandemic,  in  addition  to  the  different  attitudes  and  behaviors  towards  the  care  necessary  to prevent  COVID-19.  The  critique  of  hegemonic  masculinity  allows  for  an  accumulation   of   knowledge   that   favors   the   development   of   interventional   processes, such as the carrying out of activity workshops and conversation circles that aim to soften the reflexes of this thought on society.