Dem Rep Says Coronavirus Crisis Is Sexist — Women’s ‘Needs’ Should Be Prioritized by Congress

A Florida congresswoman said this week that the coronavirus pandemic is a “gendered crisis” and that “Low-income moms of color” are particularly vulnerable to its effects.

Rep. Frederica Wilson tweeted her thoughts out to her more than 70,000 followers on Tuesday, saying women facing the crisis are “disproportionately on the frontlines as healthcare workers, food service workers, grocery.”

In another tweet, Wilson suggested there was a racial component to the effects of the pandemic.

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“Low-income moms of color are most likely to be their families’ breadwinner & at the same time, incredibly vulnerable to pay discrimination and the economic & health impacts of the #COVID19 crisis,” she tweeted.

The Florida Democrat urged Congress to focus its fourth coronavirus relief package on the “needs” of women of color.

Wilson’s take was widely ridiculed by commenters, and her initial tweet was heavily “ratioed.”

“I’ll let both of my male children, one who is as we speak unloading and stocking shelves while the other works as a prison C.O., how you feel about it,” said one Twitter user.

Another characterized Wilson’s stance on the issue as “racist.”

Have women been more adversely affected by the coronavirus crisis’ impact?

Wilson’s argument that women have born the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic’s effects is rebutted by a pattern emerging across various nations: Men are likelier to die from the disease than women.

According to one analysis, the fatality rate for Chinese men infected with coronavirus is nearly double that of women.

Men make up more than 71 percent of coronavirus deaths in Italy.

And the disease is killing twice as many men as women in Spain.

The figures haven’t stopped some feminists from decrying how the coronavirus purportedly disproportionately harms women.

“The Coronavirus Is a Disaster for Feminism,” declared The Atlantic staff writer Helen Lewis in a mid-March piece.

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Rosamund Hutt, a senior writer for Formative Content, conceded that research appears to show men are likelier to die from coronavirus, but argued that “in other, perhaps less obvious ways, the virus appears to disproportionately affect women.”

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