The Dangerous "We Don’t Have COVID" Mentality: Lessons from Sex Education
Listen. I don’t want to see small businesses suffer due to shutdowns. I don’t want to see @cityofphiladelphia@phillymayorcontinue to create conflicting (and, arguably unenforceable) guidelines that permit “this” but not “that.” Especially without additional funding to said small businesses.
But you have to stop using “WE DON’T HAVE COVID” as the crutch of your arguments. You have no KNOWN exposures, outbreaks, and/or cases at your restaurant, spa, gym, place of worship, or retail store.
Throughout the pandemic, my work as a sex educator has only increased. There are parallels that I never saw before COVID, but it’s become even more clear to me how necessary this work is as we navigate the pandemic.
The way so many leaders are treating COVID is representative of internalized stigmas we have about what it means to have a stigmatized virus. Most recently, @nygovcuomo stated, “If you’re socially distant, and you wore a mask, and you were smart, none of this would be a problem — it's all self imposed. If you didn't eat the cheesecake you wouldn't have a weight problem."
Not only is this shaming, blaming, and fat-phobic, it’s wrong. In sex ed we know abstinence-based education just doesn’t work. We preach condoms, getting STI tests, and “saying safe” (think, wear a mask, get a COVID test; stay home) but we know people don’t listen. Abstinence based practice doesn’t work when it comes to COVID, either.
Further, claiming “but we don’t have COVID” as a battle cry reflects a similar moral thought process as those who claim to be free of STIs. It’s the hierarchal thinking of “us” vs. “them” - “good” vs “bad” - “clean” vs “dirty.”
My work doesn’t stop. My work hasn’t stopped. In fact, my work is more necessary than before.