Shared experiences have been part of our collective consciousness for the past 14 months in the midst of the global pandemic. We all remember where we were when the news of the pandemic began to spread around the world. Then, came mask ordinances and social distancing guidelines.
The masks became a symbol of sorts. A political rallying cry as the election season began in earnest between a president who denied there was a problem and a candidate who was determined to defeat the virus. Some masks were ridiculous and, for most Americans, they became a fashion statement, as public gatherings were banned, airlines were grounded and businesses shuttered. Then, masks were declared unsafe and people were told to double up for safety and health.
For 14 months, that was our reality. Then, just like that, the masks came off as ordinances dropped and vaccines dominated the conversation. Not all masks, mind you - not nearly. And not indoors, where face coverings remain a necessity. But, a style in vogue for more than a year in urban centers full of eager-to-please progressives has started to feel awfully last season. A fashion trend that has come and gone.
You can, on rare occasion, take the dog out on one side of the street with your cheeks bare and see someone else doing the same on the other side. You can run in the road without yanking a silly bandana over your gasping lips every time a pedestrian comes into sight. There is only the barest ounce of guilt, only a glimpse here and there of judging eyes peeking out above elasticized cloth.
A defining characteristic of our weary society is getting fuzzy around the edges. The shift may compel us to ask when we will rip the fabric from our faces for good. It should also make us consider why we have worn these things for so long.
Scientifically, not all that much has changed since we started donning masks last spring. Obviously, vaccination rates have ticked up, and the imperative that the inoculated mask up in open air to protect themselves or others seems out of sync with our new sort-of normal. But experts have known for some time that transmission via passing someone on the sidewalk is almost ludicrously unlikely, as an infectious disease physician recently told Slate: “You’re talking about a probability of getting hit by a car, and being struck by lightning.”
This realization brought an end to beach-shaming: Go frolic, spring breakers, as long as you do not pack into bars to slurp on shared margaritas at night! Similarly, it lessened the intensity with which armchair epidemiologists harp on the irresponsibility of exposing our nostrils to the elements. Signs that demand “Joggers wear a mask” have long been less acceptable than, well, jogging without a mask.
Yet, a quiet devotion to covering up has persisted. Some of this comes from on high. Many cities continue to mandate masks. Guidance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentions that masks “may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others,” but, it says nothing about what “away from others” means. How, for instance, does the packed lawn of a concert venue differ from a neighborhood park dotted with picnickers?
The governmental caution makes sense: Outdoor masks are about not only outdoor spread, but spread everywhere. To erode the norm in the fresh air risks eroding it in the staleness of grocery store aisles and elsewhere, too. And, the threat of new variants requires extra vigilance. This crisis, officials want us to remember, is not over.
We have kept on keeping our masks on even when unnecessary, in many cases, for the same reason. Many have worn masks wherever they go to send the message that they take Covid-19 seriously and that others should, too. Or to send the message that they believe in science, when they are away from home and their “Thank You Dr. Fauci” yard signs. Or, to send the message that we are all in this together, as the song in "High School Musical" says.
The most cynical among us view this behavior as a sort of pandemic performance: an elaborate display of virtuousness, accompanied, at times, by a self-righteous scent of martyrdom. More generously, it is an attempt at solidarity.
The need (or not) to wear masks outdoors has been a subject of media coverage - and impassioned debate - for a while now. Meanwhile, on the right, agitators have joined the debate by jumping in at the deepest end possible.
Right-wing talking heads have hijacked the naturally slow-moving, contentious development of science by taking the most absurd position imaginable and forcing those of us who care about reality into a reflexive defense of oversimplified truths, all covered under the flattening lens of the “culture war.” The more nuanced the debate, it seems, the wilder the right-wing claims about it. Risk calculations involve science, of course, but they also centrally involve social science. Masks have long been cultural symbols, both in the United States and overseas; it is true, too, that traditional “scientific” vigilance around the virus should not let up because of the vaccine.
Still, it is possible to conceptualize a subtle shift in framing here - one that is less concerned with litigating the “culture” part of the culture war and more concerned with the “war” part. The continued mask hysteria underscores that the emphasis has always been on the “war” part - staking out an extreme position, and aggressively policing it to turn Americans against each other.
Masks have always been a social compact: We give up a little on the off chance that it would achieve a lot, both by keeping our communities a bit safer and by making our communities feel safer. So, it is unsurprising that we are easing up on the coverings as the overall danger decreases and that the easing has come slowly and steadily. More than that, it has come collectively: with even vaccinated individuals squinting around to see whether others are wearing masks before they shed their own, or scanning the Internet for sentiments that validate their desire for slightly less sweaty skin, or hoping for some decree from a trusted source that permits liberation.
We will find our way out of this pandemic, we hope, with science as a guide - just as it led us when we landed in it. Yet science has always been only part of the picture. The Cororonavirus pandemic has also been about ourselves and other people: what we ask of each other, and how we answer. Anxiety about a return to the before times may stem from realizing that we are all about to have one less thing in common.
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