Our individualistic, consumeristic medical system pushes women to act as family health managers. As a result, women are generally more likely than men to follow expert medical recommendations for avoiding health risks. In the context of rampant misinformation, however, the pressure women face to control risks may lead them to disproportionately oppose some new efforts to promote public health. We investigate this possibility using a novel mixed-methods study examining gendered opposition to two school-based public health initiatives related to COVID-19. Nationally representative surveys of 1,946 parents reveal that mothers are significantly more likely than other parents to oppose school-required immunizations against COVID-19 and significantly more likely to report planning not to vaccinate their children. This opposition is particularly pronounced among white Republican/Republican-leaning mothers (54% opposed). Simultaneously, however, mothers are significantly less likely than other parents to oppose school mask mandates, with white Democrat/Democrat-leaning fathers being most opposed (45%). In-depth interviews with a socioeconomically, politically, and racially/ethnically diverse group of mothers (N=64) link these patterns to mothers’ beliefs that they can control the risks of COVID-19 (including through use of masks) but not the risks of COVID-19 vaccines. Thus, we conclude that, in the context of rampant misinformation, gendered pressures lead mothers to disproportionately support initiatives they perceive as useful for controlling health risks and disproportionately oppose initiatives they perceive as introducing uncontrollable risks. Given high rates of parental opposition to COVID-related public health initiatives, we suggest that a consumeristic model of medicine, coupled with widespread misinformation, may lead to a crisis of confidence that undermines public health.
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