Workers or Heroines? Health Care in Times of Crisis

Introduction: This article reflects on the tensions that occurred in healthcare professionals during crisis situations in the history of Argentina. Women, in their naturalized role as caregivers, played a more visible role in the face of political crises, epidemics, and natural disasters. Development: We analyzed the participation of one of the first Argentinean women doctors, Elvira Rawson, during the Revolution of the Park (July 26, 1890, Buenos Aires), when, although she was a student, she defied the establishment by treating gunshot victims, regardless of their political affiliation. We have then highlighted the role of a group of nurses (Argentinean and American) during the polio epidemic in 1943 and a controversial method of rehabilitation developed by Elizabeth Kenny. Finally, we examined the 1944 earthquake that occurred in the province of San Juan as a scenario that called for solidary vocations and stimulated the development of nursing in Argentina. Conclusions: The rhetoric of “vocation,” “love of neighbor,” or “naturalized gifts given by sex” are features that are often accentuated during political, social, and health crises. The covid-19 pandemic renews heroic and sacrificial discursive strategies that are insufficient to recognize the professional knowledge associated with caregiving tasks while hiding substandard working conditions and gender inequalities that are reproduced within the social and healthcare fields.