Understanding the experiences of those of us still wearing face masks in the West. 1/17
John A Powell writes: “When societies experience big and rapid change, a frequent response is for people to narrowly define who qualifies as a full member of society – a process I call “Othering”. 2/17
The rapid changes brought about by the Covid 19 Pandemic now in its 4th year, has resulted in face mask wearers in the west, now being represented as ‘the other’. 3/17
Powell writes “Othering …is based on the conscious or unconscious assumption that a certain identified group poses a threat to the favoured group. It is largely driven by politicians and the media, as opposed to personal contact.” 4/17
Powell also says “People don’t just figure out on their own that collectively they need to be afraid of another group. Leadership plays a critical role.”
Leadership therefore helps socially construct and reinforce society’s othering. 5/17
Leadership therefore helps socially construct and reinforce society’s othering. 5/17
Western media have called masks a ‘face nappies’ and mask wearers as ‘bedwetters’ and ‘holdouts’, whilst our politician leaders have mostly dropped wearing them publicly or are seen mis-wearing or wearing inadequate ones (unless they’re in company with other elites at Davos) 6/17
As wearing a mask involves concealing a significant part of our face and identity, the act of wearing one also feels both unfamiliar and dehumanising. It’s therefore not hard for western media to add further discomfort making mask wearing psychologically unbearable for most. 7/17
Paradoxically the reality couldn’t be further from the truth, as mask wearers are arguably those that still care most about protecting themselves and others and including everyone, especially the most vulnerable, in an increasingly unsafe world of airborne threats. 8/17
Goffman's article ‘On face-work’ examines the symbolic masking that people use when interacting face-to-face. He argues that in face-to-face communication human beings function as actors in a play. 9/17
Thus there are two processes at work, when interacting in a face mask with the majority of those not wearing face masks:
1. Subliminal masking that all of us do, to conform (or not) to the social norms and moral rules of our culture. 10/17
1. Subliminal masking that all of us do, to conform (or not) to the social norms and moral rules of our culture. 10/17
2. Wearing a physical mask which contravenes social norms. Wearing a physical face mask in the context of others not wearing a face mask, is a direct challenge to the symbolic masking based on the social norm that we’re now expected to pretend that the pandemic is over. 11/17
It’s been an interesting observation then, that many of us still wearing face masks are neurodivergent and therefore frequently either consciously or unconsciously challenge and question social norms. Many of us learn to symbolically mask as a survival strategy. 12/17
Those of us wearing face masks in the social company of those who aren’t find ourselves self-censoring, not sharing our fears and concerns about the pandemic or our reality of living in exile, as the very act of wearing a physical mask feels challenging enough to our place. 13/17
We also find ourselves rupturing with others more frequently when we drop the symbolic mask of not sharing our concerns. We may then attempt to clumsily repair for example, by over enthusiastically agreeing on other issues or changing the subject. 14/17
We may even (to our own internal discomfort) put ourselves down or call ourselves ‘overly anxious’ to alleviate the cognitive dissonance and discomfort our physical masking creates in others. 15/17
Many of us have also irrationally felt shame and humiliation being seen by others we know in public, wearing a face mask. At the same time, it’s bemusing to notice that the avoidance is a two way street, non-maskers often avoid us as much as we avoid them. 16/17
These are painful and difficult times which make us want to withdraw permanently to safe spaces. We must also continue to challenge the dominant narrative that questions our right to exist safely and thus freely. Solidarity with anyone masking on multiple fronts. 17/17
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