You may have heard the saying before that gender is a social construct. The basic idea is that most of our expectations about what it means to be a man or woman are determined by society (and not biology).
The concept is a bit of a political Rorschach test. This is a severe oversimplification, but the Blue tribe tends to think that since it’s a social construct it isn’t fixed and ideas about gender need to change to accommodate individual needs.
The Red tribe tends to think that gender roles are real and important. The idea that it is a social construct tends to make it seem less real, so it can seen as a threat. Hence, they like to emphasize how gender is rooted in biological reality.
The tables seem to be turned when it comes to the current Coronavirus pandemic. The Blue tribe thinks it is a real thing, rooted in biology. Therefore, we all need to take it seriously and lock ourselves down. The Red tribe, on the other hand, are concerned that the panic is worse than the pandemic.
In other words, the Red tribe thinks Coronavirus is a social construct. Yet somehow I find it very unlikely that anyone will take this opportunity to see anything from the other perspective.
By the way, so what do I think about the whole biology/social construct thing? They’re both right, on both issues.
Gender is a social construct. It’s also rooted in biology.
The pandemic is also a social construct rooted in biology.
Let me talk a little more about the social construct part. In a way the point is obvious. People getting sick and dying is a biological thing. People staying home, locking down cities, selling off stocks, buying up toilet paper…that’s all based on our mental/cultural landscape.
And although I do agree that Coronavirus is a real threat, and that we need to come together as a society to address it…I also think that the threat to our society is at least as much a social thing as a biological thing.
Furthermore, people want to live in interesting times and we are all having a bit of excitement at the drama of it all. The Coronavirus is kind of like the 9/11 (or Vietnam, or WWII) of this generation. It is the kind of trauma that can bring people together for years to come. And honestly, it would be a bit disappointing if this is the most drama we get for the next ten years.
I can’t find it now, but I saw this tweet earlier that said something to the effect that previous generations could prove their heroism by signing up for the draft and dying in the trenches in Europe. Now we just stay home and watch Netflix.
If every generation has it’s defining moment, and this is one of those moments, it is a a sign of how soft our society is (and has the luxury to be). At the end of the day, I think it’s a good thing if this is the big deal that binds together the current generation of those too young to be impressed by 9/11.
I will be interested to see the long term economic impact. According to Wikipedia, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is something like 6 trillion dollars (not to mention lives lost). Going back to the social construct thing, I think part of the reason for this costly response is that on some level society needed to engage in some kind of costly adventure.
Hopefully when the Coronavirus passes, we will all be sufficiently entertained by the global drama (and eager to put the economic losses behind us) that we won’t have an appetite for doing something really stupid like ramping up some kind of conflict with China. Senator Tom Cotton seems to think it’s really important that we “hold China accountable.”
Is it though? Isn’t the fact that a bunch of people died, they had to mobilize and then lockdown their whole country accountability? Will we really have the same kind appetite for self-destructive behavior that we did in the aftermath of 9/11? I think the answer is that we probably won’t. Something tells me that as far as socially constructed global trauma goes, when this one is over people will be ready to move on.
