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
Like wearing clothes, seat belts, bicycle helmets etc mask wearing can initially be a bit uncomfortable and inconvenient, requiring extra costs and efforts.
As a practice over time, with public health education and government support, mask wearing becomes habitual.
2/16
Mask wearing is hardest psychologically because Western media, primarily Murdoch and big business, have politicised and weaponised masks, exploiting millions of years of mammalian conditioning that makes non-conformity with the herd, dangerous.
3/16