Good Things Aren't Happening Because of COVID-19

I'm sure you've seen various stories about the "positive side" of the COVID-19 global pandemic, be it clear water in the canals of Venice, less polluted air in Beijing or people reconnecting with those they don't see that often. Though positive things, they were not done by COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a disease that causes illness and death, it has caused countless instances of heartbreak and loss - and in the UK has been particularly deadly in already vulnerable and marginalised communities. These are not good things.

At no point did COVID-19 choose to stop a plane flying or help whales communicate: it's a microscopic disease...it can't. These things, "the positives" were all done by people. Human beings had the ability to do these things and when they acted in a certain way, said things happened. Yes, the disease was the catalyst, but the action was human.

Now, these actions were forced upon us by crisis / necessity, but were nonetheless things we had the ability to do - the proof being in the doing. It's a helpful example of how when pushed, one can find a way. One step better than being "pushed" by crisis, would be for us to be "pushed" by our own volition, something that also requires us to be driven by an understanding of the problems in our world + our ability to influence them.

Many environmentalists have been using the recent rapid changes in human behaviour to point out that a lot of what they (we) have been calling for all along is in fact possible [economic meltdown aside, we still need to figure out the kinks]. It might not be as easy - or for some people even tempting - to uphold these changes after the necessity has passed, but what we have shown is that we can make the changes.

Just as changes to behaviour have been happening on a global scale, I want to explore changes that have and could be taking place on a personal level, specifically from a masculinities perspective, and see what lessons we could be taking forward.

One of the most immediate changes in men's behaviour has been around taking responsibility for our own health. A couple of the pieces of "low hanging fruit" if you will for maintaining changes in our behaviour could be in continuing to wash your hands regularly (already criminally low amongst men) and doing more to avoid underlying health conditions such as heart disease or hypertension, not to mention having a change in mindset that replaces, "i'm sure it's fine" with, "I should probably get this checked out".

Those are easy changes to make for someone who has had an easy start in life or is privileged enough to live in circumstances where healthy foods can be readily available or visits to the GP don't clash with a zero hours contract. But it's imperative that just as this crisis has shone a spotlight on how inequality affects health outcomes, we must also turn on our own "spotlights" to make ourselves properly aware of what & where these inequalities are.

It's no use only helping yourself, you are part of a community - local, national, global - and that community is healthier when everyone in it is equally supported. Again, the current crisis shows how this concept works in practice in the fact that a disproportionate number of deaths from COVID-19 are happening to BAME healthcare professionals: a group within our community who do not receive fair & equitable treatment is suffering, which in turn means that our health service suffers, which means that everybody suffers. In the same area, a lot of badly needed PPE doesn't fit many women as it was designed by men with male users in mind. Yet again, a lack of attention to people beyond one’s own group is having a huge impact further down the line - and it’s costing lives, not just of those women but of those they could otherwise be helping too.

Inequality for some is bad news for everyone. Not to mention that all people are of inherent equal value and should be treated as such!

Moving on from health, let's have a think about how else men can make changes in their lives post-COVID-19. I want to take this metaphysical (I believe i'm using this in the correct context here, if not, I tried) and look not just at the personal changes we have made, but the very act of making the changes itself. As stated at the beginning: a disease did not make things happen - people did. In the same vein: disease didn't make you wash your hands or check in with your friends more often - you did.

We need to look at our ability to make changes in ourselves, our behaviour, outlook, understanding. We need to realise that we can do these things and keep doing them. I have spoken to a lot of people who have done things that they were scared or unsure of how to do before lockdown, whether that be reconnecting with someone they've lost touch with or telling a male friend that they love them, they have done things that they wanted to do but didn't think they could - until circumstances compelled them to try.

Men need to start doing the things that we know we should be doing but are perhaps not doing because of those same feelings of fear or not knowing how.

Got a colleague who makes sexist remarks? You can call him out.

Got a mate who makes homophobic jokes? You can tell him how you feel about this and tell them to stop

Got a female partner who is taking on the contraceptive burden for your relationship? You can do something about that?

And if you're not sure how? Well that's what we're here for! If you would like to know more about anything at all relating to changing or questioning masculinity, get in touch with us at the Good Lad Initiative.

Not all of these changes will be personal or based solely on your actions. Going back to the COVID-19 example, many workplaces that previously said people couldn't work from home for extended periods of time (and therefore that new parents couldn't work from home after pat / mat leave) have - would you believe it?! - discovered that they can in fact function with huge amounts of staff working remotely for weeks on end. Similarly, many workplaces have been against flexible working hours or staggered start & finish times that would allow staff with caring responsibilities to better fit in their home & work schedules...yet now this is being discussed as the means to getting people back to work in a country that still requires social distancing.

Once again, these are all things we knew were possible, but were only done out of necessity. They're also things that tend to be needed most by women and those in more vulnerable circumstances. We need to make sure that these changes for the better stay in place for the good of us all - not out of necessity, but because they are right. You personally can't make staggered hours a permanent fixture at your workplace (unless you're the boss, in which case, do) but you can be part of the chorus of voices that takes action to agitate for this remaining the case; even if you're not going to benefit - this is where we need you to be an ally and get involved.

This has all been a long-winded way of saying that if you have noticed big changes happening recently and put it down to the epochal impact of a pandemic, know that it was in reality down to the decisions & actions of people just like you. Good things aren't happening because of COVID-19, they are happening because people are making them happen, you have the ability to continue this process, if you choose to do so.