The layers of inequality: Bodies, gender and daily life in Argentina during the pandemic

MARÍA FLORENCIA BLANCO ESMORIS; NEMESIA HIJÓS

Karlstad

Seminario; The politics and intersections of COVID-19: critical perspectives from gender studies; 2020

Center for Gender Studies, Karlstad University

This presentation explores the inequalities in Argentina according to the unfolding of daily life during the pandemic caused by COVID-19. In particular, we focus on the house and the body as the protagonist of isolation. We analyze gender roles, inequalities, symbolic violences, and the complexity of conciliating time and space during the local and mandatory confinement. This global pandemic does not affect everyone equally. In Argentina, the #StayAtHome motto exposed the boundaries of people´s living conditions. For some, it is an overwhelming invitation that appears in the form of tips on social networks, under a performance command. Productivity and self-governance intersect with the fear of getting fat or "losing physical shape" as undesirable effects of quarantine. For others, this is not a possibility because confinement is experienced as a survival odyssey. In this context, not all the bodies are the same and, as we present, not everyone has the opportunity to undergo the lockdown. This is especially important if we take into account that Latin America is the most unequal continent in the world, a paradox that is peculiarly expressed in Argentina. We present statistical material and ethnographic outcomes of these experiences in Buenos Aires. Our presentation is crossed by two dimensions: inequality and gender. The program is organized around three major themes: 1) Bodies, capitalism, and the culture of performance; 2) Housing: between intimacy and work tasks; and 3) Uneven privileges: solidarities and individualisms. For this, we will focus on fieldwork results from our own individual researches: the one linked to the body and sports practices is derived from the work of Nemesia Hijós with runners and amateur athletes in training groups, and the other referring to the house and ways of living in Haedo (Province of Buenos Aires) is based on María Florencia Blanco Esmoris study.