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“It’s Not Just about Work and Living Conditions”: The Underestimation of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Black Canadian Women

Author

Listed:
  • Melanie Knight

    (Department of Sociology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada)

  • Renée Nichole Ferguson

    (Department of Social Work, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 1G6, Canada)

  • Rai Reece

    (Department of Sociology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increasingly been defined as the shecession for its disproportionate debilitating impact on women. Despite this gendered analysis, a number of health activists have called on governments to account for the experiences of Black communities as they are disproportionately suffering the effects of this pandemic. In the media’s address of the impact of the pandemic, we ask, what experiences are represented in news stories and are Black women present in these representations. Performing a content analysis of 108 news articles, a reading of media discourses through a racial lens reveals a homogenization of women’s experiences and an absence of the Black experience. In the small number of news stories that do focus on Black women, we see that the health disparities are not simply the result of precarious work and living conditions, but also the struggle against anti-Black racism on multiple fronts. In critiquing, however, we also bring forth the small number of news stories on the Black experience that speak to the desire and hope that can thrive outside of white supremacist structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Melanie Knight & Renée Nichole Ferguson & Rai Reece, 2021. "“It’s Not Just about Work and Living Conditions”: The Underestimation of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Black Canadian Women," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:6:p:210-:d:567597
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Titan Alon & Matthias Doepke & Jane Olmstead-Rumsey & Michèle Tertilt, 2020. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_163, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    3. Vishal K. Gupta & Daniel B. Turban & S. Arzu Wasti & Arijit Sikdar, 2009. "The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Entrepreneurs and Intentions to Become an Entrepreneur," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(2), pages 397-417, March.
    4. Almudena Sevilla & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 169-186.
    5. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Melanie Knight, 2016. "Race-ing, Classing and Gendering Racialized Women's Participation in Entrepreneurship," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 310-327, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Janet Kemei & Mia Tulli & Adedoyin Olanlesi-Aliu & Modupe Tunde-Byass & Bukola Salami, 2023. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Black Communities in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-16, January.

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