Make masks accessories, not piques

Why all the fuss about face masks? Why won’t people just wear them?
“Masking has become controversial. It shouldn’t be,” former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on “Face the Nation.” To health experts, masks seem like a simple, apolitical precaution. In medical jargon, they’re personal protective equipment, or PPE, like surgeons’ gowns, gloves and face screens. Nobody thinks a doctor, nurse or emergency medical technician is a coward for gearing up.
On the streets of everyday life, however, masks are something more. They aren’t like safety glasses, life preserver vests, or seatbelts — special protection for a limited task in a specialised environment.
Masks are clothing. They cover your body and change how you appear to the world. Once you understand masks as clothing, the controversy becomes entirely predictable. Clothes don’t just protect us from the elements. They aren’t purely functional. They provide pleasure and convey meaning. They tell the world, “I like that” and “I’m like that.” They help us stand out as
individuals and fit in with our tribe.
Choosing your own clothes is a sign of autonomy and power. From toddlers to teens, kids fight their parents over what they wear.
From feminists in the 1970s to calico prohibition in the 17th century, fashion history is full of people defying clothing regulation to
assert their identities or indulge their tastes. The history of sumptuary laws, which banned luxury clothing or limited it to certain classes, is largely the story of people finding ways around the restrictions.
In short, people hate being told what they must or cannot wear. That’s as true for masks as it is for other garments. Mandates were bound to spark resistance. Ramping up enforcement will only intensify the pushback, and local police are wise not to make it a
priority. Stopping mask scofflaws is just the sort of petty law enforcement that can lead to racially fraught harassment and abuse. When Joe Biden says he’d make mask wearing compulsory, he isn’t thinking about what that means on the street.
The good news is that people don’t wear clothes because it’s illegal not to (even though it is). They wear clothes to meet social expectations, express who they are, and add beauty, comfort and style to their everyday lives. To encourage mask-wearing, we need to tap into those instincts.
Anthony Fauci had the right idea when he wore a Washington Nationals mask at a congressional hearing last week. He demonstrated that masks don’t have to
be boring. They can express our passions. Instead of
annoyances, they can be
accessories.

—Bloomberg