Abstract
AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic, as an ongoing societal crisis, compounds pre‐existing intersectional inequalities. Since the start of this crisis, those on the margins—women, single parents, LGBTQ+, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic peoples—and those living in precarity and poverty found themselves increasingly “othered.” As a group of academics who encounter gendered reality in disparate ways, we unite through this paper to prioritize a collective ethic of care as a counter‐narrative to the “business as usual” rhetoric that endures as our oppressive reality. In responding to this special issue, a (dis)embodied alterethnographical text is offered, encompassing four evocative reflections on symbolic annihilation to “unmute” our individual voices. We present an inclusive discussion to connect our disconnected otherness, collectively resisting the dominant, patriarchal narratives, through non‐linear, “messy writing.” Our contribution is threefold. First, we empirically contribute to dismantling heteronormative binarism by reclaiming our collective voices as a loud rebuttal to hegemony. Second, through collective conceptualizations of gendered crisis, we problematize theorizing gender from a unified conceptual lens to demonstrate the importance of an inclusive approach to feminism. Finally, a collective discussion of our cumulative experiences, contributes to the writing differently agenda, subverting the limitations of the encountered gender binaries.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis, compounds pre-existing intersectional inequalities (Rodriguez et al, 2016) and exacerbates the patriarchal nature of labor and work (Özkazanç-Pan & Pullen, 2020)
As we find ourselves in an era of pseudo-populist, deeply Conservative politics, combined with the global pandemic, the stage is being set for deeper, longer term inequality
We came together with a mutual appreciation of our shared values and an ethic of care oriented toward “hope.” This was the bedrock of our reflexivity during discussion meetings and provided a safe space into which we could share our vulnerable experiences of symbolic annihilation (Tuchman, 1979), providing readers with a psychological safe space through their own identification and recognition of otherness
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis, compounds pre-existing intersectional inequalities (Rodriguez et al, 2016) and exacerbates the patriarchal nature of labor and work (Özkazanç-Pan & Pullen, 2020). Using a foundation of care as a form of solidarity, our mutuality is shaped by our shared feminist principles to challenge prevailing patriarchal discourses, which include the normative academic responses to this crisis. Underpinned by a feminist approach to knowledge, and with commitment to transgressing the boundaries of ego, our collective gathering contributes to unmuting understanding and decolonizing existing knowledge that symbolically annihilates people by disqualifying different bodies (Mandalaki & Fotaki, 2020). It is such inclusive knowledge and collective organizing that challenges, disrupts, and deconstructs binarism that holds the potential of (re)organizing the amplified gendered hierarchies in times of crisis
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