DECEMBER 2020 | 5
NATIONAL
Corona crisis regulations are reversing social progress The Covid-19 pandemic has forced everyone to make concessions in daily life. From the economy to social interaction, education and even home life, every aspect of life has changed because of the corona regulations. However, while there is no end yet in sight, it seems that the social ramifications of the corona measures are being pushed by the wayside. It is now becoming clear that women’s emancipation has been affected by the Covid-19 regulations, as the heart of the economy has shifted from the office to the home. The confinement of the whole family to the home opened the door to challenge traditional gender roles. Nevertheless, as Fella Vermeulen claimed in September, women have seen little change in the management of their households: women are still taking on the majority of chores around the house. Even among a demographic of higher-educated people, no noticeable change was noted in household equality. This can be seen as a consequence of more systemic, preexisting, inequality in society, and in particular the job market: women are still paid less on average than men. This means that when families are forced to make difficult decisions because of, for
example, a global pandemic, the woman (in heterosexual couples) is more likely to end up sacrificing her career for the sake of the family. This dichotomy is magnified by several factors. The lockdown policies have caused a shift from a paid economy of childcare to an unpaid one, with jobs in this sector disappearing as children were required to stay home. Furthermore, sectors like childcare, the service industry and the cultural sector have a larger percentage of female workers. These sectors frequently function with flexible contracts, or even informal contracts. Subsequently, the workforce in these sectors had little security, when it had to stop working due to the corona measures. As these women lost their incomes, without qualifying for government support, it was natural for them to revert to traditional gender roles inside the home. As Anne-Floor Dekker and Froukje Gaasterland claimed in April, the consequences of the corona measures for women have been largely ignored, even though women make up the majority of those working on the frontlines in the healthcare sector. This was partially
because in the first response to the Covid-19 crisis, there was little room to pay attention to the social and cultural consequences of the corona regulations. But because gender roles seem to be reverting to those in a more traditional society because of this lack of consideration, the setback in female emancipation remains a systemic problem in society. This discussion has been debated since March, when the first lockdowns started. However, it is important to note that the consequences of the corona measures for female emancipation are not interpreted as a failure of feminism. Malijn Simon,
writing for Quillette in March, claims that focusing on the shift of women towards unpaid work in the home should not result in an undervaluing of female homemaking activities. It is not anti-feminist to take care of one’s family, even if this comes at the cost of one’s career, just as it is not emasculating to do so. Women’s emancipation is a movement towards freedom of choice, not a push towards big bucks or the board room. There is definitely a systemic issue that causes the undervaluing women in the workforce, but the way to combat this is not to define equality as sameness. Written by Maurits Seijger
New corona rules and negative travel advice
On Tuesday 2 November 2020, the government of the Netherlands introduced new, stricter limitations for Dutch society, aimed at getting the spread of the corona virus under control. The new limitations are harsh, but necessary. The aim is to protect vulnerable groups and to relieve the growing pressure on the healthcare sector. The decision to implement stricter measures was not easy for the Cabinet, especially because the amount of new Covid-19 cases was decreasing in the weekend before the measures were introduced. A long and heated discussion was held between those members of the Cabinet who thought that the measures were necessary, and those who thought that more restrictions were not needed. However, the number of patients in hospital and Intensive Care Units was still rising, so it was decided that social life had to be further restricted. The main idea behind the new measures is to make sure that people stay at home as much as possible and avoid unnecessary social contacts. First of all, the government has encouraged people to work from home as much as possible. This was emphasized in relation to lowering the amount of work-related travel, especially on public transport. In addition to closing cafes and
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restaurants, the government also closed theaters, museums, cinemas, libraries, swimming pools, zoos and amusement parks. But unlike the restaurant industry, which has to remain largely closed until the middle of December, public buildings in the cultural and sports sector are supposed to open again on 18 November. Major limitations regarding social distancing and the maximum capacity of venues will remain in place, however. Limitations for the maximum number of people who can gather in one place were also made stricter. From 4 until 18 November, no more than two people may meet up outside and a maximum of two guests from different households per day is allowed inside. Weddings are limited to a maximum of 20 guests and funerals to a maximum of 30. Unlike during the first “intelligent” lockdown in March and April, gyms can remain open for individual training, and sports clubs can continue to use indoor spaces. Sport is considered to be too important for mental and physical wellbeing, so closing these facilities is too big of a risk for the health of the population. Nevertheless, all amateur competitions and group training were canceled.
Important changes were implemented with regard to traveling. The Cabinet issued “urgent advice” to not travel abroad unless it’s an emergency. A family visit or vacation is not considered an emergency. Importantly, this advice covers the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. At the beginning of 2020, many people became infected during their vacation abroad, so the government wants to prevent this from happening again. The advice includes not only countries that carry an “orange” risk level, but also the “yellow” ones, where traveling was mostly allowed before. Fortunately, traveling inside the country is still allowed. Also, trips to the Caribbean part of the Netherlands are permitted, unless the risk level there changes to “orange”. But it is strongly advised to stay near your holiday accommodation and not to travel around. Travelling should remain sensible and you should have as little social interaction as possible with locals.
during trips to ski and snowboard resorts). Therefore, many people, including the Prime-Minister himself, will have to cancel their trips. All the new measures, except for the traveling advice, are supposed to be in force for two weeks, starting on 4 November at 22.00. After that, the rules will automatically go back to the “partial lockdown” in place earlier. The negative travel advice will stay effective until midJanuary. Written by Anastasiia Myronenko
The guidelines for this decision were provided by the Outbreak Management Team, the Cabinet’s most important advisory board during the corona crisis. The OMT stated that, unfortunately, it often seems impossible to keep enough distance to other people and to follow all necessary precautions while on vacation (especially
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