The politics of mask-wearing

   Lately, after an unusually chilly early Spring here in sunny So. Cal. (at least for me now with my neuropathy), I have been venturing out on my own in my chair.  I have been delighting in these independent excursions around my neighborhood and a bit beyond (during the stay-at-home orders, we are allowed to go out for walks). But I have to say that, when I forget to have my mask put on when I go out, I feel naked.  And not in a good way. 

   Perhaps it’s weird that this is how I feel.  They say we are to wear mask to protect others, to not spread germs to others, not to protect ourselves.  Not only is it highly unlikely that I have the coronavirus, as isolated and careful as I’ve been, I do not encounter many people on my outings and do not get close to those I come across. 

   But, as superficial and shallow as it sounds, when I don’t wear a mask on my strolls, I feel I’m sending the wrong message (I can hear my dad saying I was making a statement in what I wore – usually overalls – and/or with my hair – shaved, long, braids, mohawk, dreads, whatnot). In short, and again at the risk of sounding shallow and superficial, I feel like, when I don’t wear a mask when out, I’m saying I support Trump, who never wears a mask when on television, and what he says. 

   This isn’t as ridiculous as it sounds.  The sad, crazy fact is that wearing a mask – or not wearing a mask – has, as with way too many things these days, become political.  Indeed, as my dad might say, wearing or not wearing a mask is now a statement. 

   It is reported that, in general, most Democrats wear a mask when out, and most Republicans don’t wear a mask, or don’t support wearing a mask, when out, perhaps following their leader’s example.  But this is apparently more than a simple red state/blue state thing. 

   It’s said that men are more unlikely to wear masks, likely thinking that it’s unmanly to do so.  (I have seen families out walking, with all but the father wearing a mask.) Furthermore, evangelical Christians are also reported as less supportive of mask-wearing, probably with the belief that their faith or God or Jesus will protect or save them. 

   I know. Wow. 

   When one thinks about how not wearing a mask is selfish, putting the rest of us in danger, perhaps mortal danger, and maybe causing the stay-at-home orders to go on for longer, some of this fits right in.  It makes sense that a macho man thinking he can tough it out or an evangelical Christian believing that Jesus will pull him/her through or a person like Trump, who is just out for himself, would think that wearing a mask is stupid, wrong, humiliating, even if it protects or saves others. This is pretty much the subliminal or not so subliminal message from those anti-stay-at-home protesters with their guns and confederate flags and anti-vaccine signs and even those gathering to have fun and a good time, despite all, in large crowds at the beaches. 

   As a liberal, gay man with a severe disability which may be an underlying condition making me more endangered by COVID-19, I don’t want to be a part of this.  I don’t want people thinking that I buy into this.  I want to be seen doing the right thing, really to encourage others to do the right thing.  I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.  This in why I feel naked, in a bad, shameful way, when I find myself out without a mask. 

   Now, as for the mask that I wear, I am making a statement, as my dad would say, and I encourage others to do so as well. I currently wear a rainbow (gay pride) mask, and I’m trying to get other cool – colorful, perhaps tye-dye or batik) – masks.  If we have to wear masks, and we probably have to for a while, I figure, why not have fun with them?