Read on Twitter
Narratives emerging at many levels & in many ways that coronavirus is something sloppy, irresponsible people let happen to them.
Not sure what to do about it. But separating worthy & unworthy cases of people sick with COVID is dangerous.
Not sure what to do about it. But separating worthy & unworthy cases of people sick with COVID is dangerous.
One way I observe it playing out: Ppl (somewhat understandably) ridicule Republicans for flaunting advice & needlessly creating conditions by which they get the virus.
But the other side to this is it INCREASES stigma that anyone who gets COVID "let this happen to them."
But the other side to this is it INCREASES stigma that anyone who gets COVID "let this happen to them."
Another way I see it: Ppl talking about relatives getting COVID even tho they "did everything right." The flip side implies ppl who get it really did NOT "do everything right." A desire for more sympathy for the worthy & unworthy predicated on (perceived) behavior is concerning.
I am less trying to myself blame ppl trying to find a sense of blame, but more observing how blame operates, how we think in terms of blame, how blame permeates our framing, and how I observe this happening again (as I've previously observed w HIV).
Broadly in the US, we think through an ableist zeitgeist, which attempts to sort the sick from the well, the worthy from the worthy. Even with a disease so casually spread through normative activities, we tend to try to sort who is worthy of sympathy & who can be blamed.
In some way (I don't quite now how yet, but hopefully by the time I write my books' conclusion!) a most difficult question I keep coming back to is what to do with "my body, my choice." It's such a staple of reproductive choice. It's ALSO a staple of anti/vaccination choice.
And it's also indicative of how we often try to convince ourselves of the fiction that we are all autonomous, individual bodies. Viruses destroy this fiction, of course; we are connected in a communal body that shares breath, blood and DNA with others unavoidably & all the time.
But I try to listen and hear what ppl are saying—and the desire to make sense of who is worthy of being sick (or not) or worthy of sympathy (or not) is so sad and so lonely (& unhelpful) when it is cast (& recast & recast & recast) as an individual moral success or failure.
I have also observed—and I don't mean to be judgmental abt it, bc I think I understand it—a defensiveness when ppl I know "come out" abt having COVID or their relative having it. "But we did everything right!" I feel like I can hear a proactive attempt to mitigate being judged.
But the counter to this is, "I'm not like one of those people who did things wrong."
Yes, @benwritesthings, you or @alex_abads (or both!) ought to write about this https://twitter.com/benwritesthings/status/1345041849304698880
I continue to believe that more than desiring to "get back to normal," COVID-19 forces a need to wrestle with our economic, philosophical and existential assumptions about the world, *especially* w our senses of sickness, blame, wellness, individuality and collectivity.
I think there are endless interesting things here. I've been thinking thru w students but not really publishing for awhile on what work LGBTQ+ does, BIPOC, too. Groupings create solidarity in some ways but obscure important distinctions in others. https://twitter.com/alex_abads/status/1345046778194796545
In thinking abt, say, how Amy Coney Barrett's reception and Gays Over COVID/PV are similar or different, there's a lot there. Some shared matters of whiteness and coloniality; some sharp distinctions. But in terms of blame, one conundrum I *think* is a shared form of
collateral damage is that, conversationally, if I look at a group of Republicans or gays in PV and laugh at them for being irresponsible (which they are), does that inadvertently increase the stigma that all ppl who get COVID "let it happen to them"?
& if so, are there ways I/we can use narratives that encourage collective responsibility & care w/o increasing personal stigma?
I don't have an answer, I am still thinking it through. I find it very difficult personally, because it can feel so good to blame "irresponsible" pp.
I don't have an answer, I am still thinking it through. I find it very difficult personally, because it can feel so good to blame "irresponsible" pp.
I'm trying to think about how collective *care* can be conceived w less individualism. Gays Over COVID and ACT UP are both gay collective projects—but only one is abt collective care.
Of course race is a big factor here. The PV party is steeped in colonialism & nationalism.
Of course race is a big factor here. The PV party is steeped in colonialism & nationalism.
