The Red Moon

In the midst of a colossal pandemic, issues of gender inequality have taken a backseat. However, it is imperative to inspect the imprint of such a large-scale global phenomenon on gender roles in society. Data has shown that while both men and women are equally susceptible to contracting COVID-19, the mortality rate of men is higher than that of women. There is ongoing research on whether the extra X chromosome gives women additional immunity. However, the more generally accepted theory is that men have compromised immunity since they tend to smoke and drink more due to traditional definitions of masculinity and femininity that promote such activities among men and demote them amongst women. The rest of the writing would focus on more indirect outcomes of the pandemic.  Notably, the majority of the global healthcare workers, as well as informal caregivers, are female. Contrastingly, the majority of the political policy-makers are male. This itself creates an imbalance in the f...

Once again, Arya Stark fell asleep in Snape’s class. Only this time, she woke up on her own, panting heavily, rather than being woken up by Snape’s condescending voice. Even though Arya was used to having visions by now, the exceptional clarity of this one left her shivering in the middle of the day. She excused herself from the class pretending to be sick and ran across the corridors into the Gryffindor common room, panic drawn out on her face. To her relief, she found Harry sitting there, along with Hermione and Ron, the three of them flipping through homework scrolls and engaging in idle chatter. Laid down on the table before them was the map for their quest tonight. The four of them had been assigned by Dumbledore to steal a Horcrux. One of Dark Lord’s Horcruxes. Hermione was the first to notice Arya, her expression quickly transforming from cheery to concerned and perplexed. Arya recounted the vision to her friends in a trembling voice. What she had seen in her vision was too uns...