Wearing A Mask Is Feminine By Mo Felt

 “Gender, Masculinity, and COVID-19” By Christina Ewig (2020) talks about studies and statistics in relation to masculinity and its effects on the COVID-19 crisis. It’s weird how wearing a mask can be seen as a feminine thing to do, but it’s not uncommon for a masculinity standard to form in any functioning rule for society. Ewig (2020) reminds us that gender is not biology and we form masculinity standards based on social norms and symbols that are dependent on one’s biological sex. It’s socially normal for men to not wash their hands after using the bathroom, smoke, and drink; so much so that they have higher statistical rates in all those things in comparison to women. These set men up to catch COVID-19 at much faster and higher rates than women. Especially in a college setting, closed spaces like dorms and classrooms promote the spread of the virus and masculinity can be a solid cause. 

As a male myself, I’ve experienced pressure to avoid wearing my mask from other men. Just last semester during the height of the COVID-19 spread on Ohio University's campus, I was wearing my mask outside between class changes. A guy approached me who seemed to be involved in a frat and told me to take my mask off. I said no and he then proceeded to call me a “pussy” as I walked away. This situation was rooted in a masculine expectation that my manliness could protect me from catching a deadly virus. Ewig’s (2020) research ties right into situations like this as she states, “The unequal death rate between men and women as a result of COVID-19 should prompt greater attention to the gendered effects of this crisis on men—particularly the role of masculinity”.

https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/04/gender-masculinity-covid-19/