Battle of the Sexes and COVID-19: The 'Great Equalizer'?

       As we continue to witness and endure the effects of the pandemic, a repeating theme of national and international news includes the disparity of experiences along demographic, ethnic, and gender categories. My goal in this limited space is to highlight just one trend that pre-existed COVID and is likely to persist for decades, which is the noteworthy comparison of the 'caregivers' and cared for'.

       In the home, about town, around the world - I offer a few statistics for your consideration here: The health care industry as a whole is made up of about 75% females, who also make up a larger portion of decision making positions, except in executive roles. As we have also been reminded recently, 'frontline' workers as a whole are also predominantly female (e.g. ranging from health professionals to child care, elder care, grocery clerks, cleaning crews, etc.). In the home, women still tend to (with many notable exceptions, of course) carry out most of the care for children, sick relatives, as well as domestic chores (thus, the reference of a 'second shift' that persists despite the consciousness raising of  the Women's Liberation Movement).

       On the other hand, what about the profile of those being 'cared for'? As far back as Florence Nightingale (May 12th marking her 200th birthday), the founder of modern nursing, women often found themselves tending not only to children but also fallen soldiers as well as a host of others with debilitating conditions. More recently, in "We Band of Angels", Elizabeth Norman documents the incredible feats women left behind with the men in the Philippines in WWII accomplished, in caring for the soldiers as well as for each other. 

       A few months after the pandemic reached U.S. soil, a New York City Health study (April 14, 2020) illustrated that male deaths outpaced females approximately 62%/32%, the reasons for which were attributed to factors of both 'nature' and 'nurture'. That is, women by nature may have stronger immune systems (as a group, that is) when it comes to fighting infections related to COVID, which in turn may be related in part to the 'X' factor (the extra X chromosome may bolster the immune response), whereas males have a higher presence of an enzyme that allows COVID to invade healthy cells (both points are admittedly only two dimensions of a highly complex comparative physiology). On the nurture side, men tend to engage in more risk taking behavior, such as (most applicable to our current experience) ignoring physical distancing, as well as ignoring symptoms in their initial presentation. 

       Concurrent with the NY study, a national poll reflected that about half the men felt they were "stepping up" their respective roles in the home, whereas only about 2% of women agreed. You may ask, "So, what's new here?!". 

       I write this in the morning our nation and other parts of the world pause in memory of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and way of life. This has increasingly included those who put their lives on the line for our enduring health and well-being.