On Wearing Masks

As far as I can tell, there are three reasons to wear a mask in public:

1. You actually think that wearing one will protect others and/or yourself from the Coronavirus.
2. You need to wear one in order to gain entry into establishments that require masks to be worn.
3. You want to be perceived as someone who is conscientious, mindful of others, sacrificial and virtuous.

For the sake of simplicity, we can name these three types of mask-wearers  in the following way: (1) the Earnest mask-wearer, (2) the Pragmatic mask-wearer, and (3) the Fashionable mask-wearer.

Most people, at least in my own circle, fall into the second category. Regardless of what they think of the utility of masks when it comes to slowing the spread of the Coronavirus, the Pragmatists don their mask when in public simply to get around without having to deal with any sort of unwanted confrontation. They comply for no other reason than to go about their business unmolested. I respect this position.

There are some, I understand, who are Earnest mask-wearers. I respect this position as well, so long as it is indeed held earnestly.

What can we say about the Fashionable mask-wearers? For one, we can say that it is difficult to tell the difference between them and the Earnest camp due to the fact that Fashionable mask-wearers masquerade as Earnest mask-wearers. No one admits to being a Fashionable mask-wearer. Instead, the Fashionable mask-wearer will have the latest studies on the utility of masks memorized so they can reference them when challenged to defend their position on mask-wearing. Such intellectual grandstanding functions as a bulwark against anyone who would call into question their status as Earnest mask-wearers. The fact that the Fashionable mask-wearer has memorized the latest studies and the most recent public health guidelines from the CDC or WHO(ever) betrays the fact that they are not really trying to convince their interlocutors as much as themselves of their own earnestness when it comes to wearing a mask in public. The thing is, the Fashionable mask-wearer really wants to be an Earnest mask-wearer which is why they take the time to look up the studies (or, more likely, the bastardized, half-digested, mommy-blogger regurgitation of the latest studies memefied for broad, Facebook-audience consumption).

So the Fashionable mask-wearer presents himself as an Earnest mask-wearer. Is there a way to tell the difference?

Yes.

I present to you the mask selfie.

Pictures of people on social media, usually taken by themselves, in the comfort of their own homes, all by themselves, wearing a mask.

This, my friends, is how you can tell the difference between an Earnest mask-wearer and a Fashionable mask-wearer. The former has no need to project to others their decision to wear a mask in public. It is not about receiving kudos as much as it is about saving lives.

But the Fashionable mask-wearer cannot help themselves. The accolades to be showered in, the Facebook likes, the hug reacts–these are just too much to pass up.

There is absolutely no reason to post a mask-selfie on social media–no health guideline or CDC-backed study or whatever–other than to signal that you are on Team Science and Team Science is cool. Just ask Bill Nye.

The reality is that wearing a mask is fashionable, it’s sexy, it’s in. And many people–more than are willing to admit–wear a mask for this reason and have the Instagram likes to prove it.

Fashionable mask-wearing is the latest form of virtue signaling, the most recent manifestation of the badge that cool kids wear to show that they’re cool kids or to show–and this is really the same thing now–that they are servile and compliant with the media establishment.

Needless to say, I do not respect the Fashionable mask-wearer.