Friendship & Feminism during COVID-19

In such uncommon times, we have had the chance to reevaluate an innumerable amount of things, like what matters the most in life. Our lifestyle, workplace, environment, mental health and economy, to name a few. The drastic shift in our daily lives during the pandemic has influenced all of us immensely. The change has been dominantly negative, but some people have managed to find their ray of hope. To discover new hobbies, inculcate new interests and spend some quality time with our families, over board games. Unfortunately, the marginalised communities have been hit hard because of the pandemic and are still struggling to come back up. The poor, middle-class people, women, and the LGBTQIA+ community have had it the worst because they are the ones that belong to the lower strata of society. They are still struggling to make their lives better.

The truth is that people adapt. Pandemic is about to complete two years of its existence. We all have faced losses and grief. And yet this catastrophe is far from over. We continue to experience the loss of life and time. What we need is comfort, peace of mind and happiness. It might sound like finding a needle in a haystack. But, they are the facet of friendship. It flows from pre-nursery to dotage.

Why Do We Need Friendship Even During a Pandemic?

We face mental and health problems now more than ever. With less and less space to even carry out the rituals of funeral pyres. People have lost their entire families to COVID, they have lost their only means of livelihood, children have become orphaned. These are the irreversible things. More people have fallen into depression. Working tedious hours day after day with no sign-of hope makes life bleak. Here, friendship works as a stress buster, therapy perhaps. Not only do we get to share our problems, but we feel heard. We stay in touch with reality. We realise that everyone is going through a rough time. We learn to empathise with each other. Not only does that calm a person, but it becomes a ray of hope in times of despair.

But that's not all friends are for. The bond between friends is precious. It motivates us to become a better version of ourselves. It becomes a guiding light to take on new challenges, grab opportunities and become a better version of ourselves. The influence of social media tends to take over our real lives. People are bullied online, and they face hate speech and criticism on such platforms. Friends help suck out the toxicity in our lives. They boost our confidence. And with the right company, we can bust gender-based stereotypes, promote notions of body positivity and mental health in society.

The Feminist Movement has taken a lot of initiatives to ease the pandemic induced problems of the downtrodden sections of our society. Through Her Lens, She is a Revolution, etc are such initiatives that use short stories and narratives to capture the experience of what women go through. Women continue to face increased female school dropouts, more gender-based violence, domestic brutality, etc. 'The Feminist COVID-19 Policy’ follows the notion of equality and non-discrimination. It focuses on the most vulnerable sections of society. They provide them with necessary services and resources like sanitation and hygiene products, ambulances and forms of information. Therefore, when it comes to dealing with an issue like a global pandemic friendship and feminism go hand in hand.

-Tanisha Tushir

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