‘Wear A Damn Mask’, Karens And Desmond Swayne – How Face-Coverings Became Political

Is 'Wear A Damn Mask' the new Brexit?

Face masks

by Rhiannon Evans |
Updated on

After the government announced masks will be compulsory in shops from July 24 - or you can be fined £100 - debate is raging online, along lines already long ago drawn, about whether it's acceptable to make people wear face coverings.

On the whole, if the 'SOLD OUT' signs everywhere you look to buy a mask are anything to go by, it looks like the nation is ready to comply. But look on social media and there's a battle raging between those who cannot believe people would be so selfish as to not wear a mask - and those who think it's some kind of civil liberties issue.

Cue, 'controversial' MP Desmond Swayne who has become infamous this week for a speech in the House of Commons against wearing masks, branding it 'MONSTROUS'.

'Nothing would make me less likely to go shopping than the thought of having to mask up,' he said. 'Was this consultation with the police force, in particular the chief constable of Hampshire, for it is she that will have to enforce this monstrous imposition against myself and a number of outraged and reluctant constituents?'

Weirdly, for someone so against face coverings, Swayne hit headlines last year saying that blackface was an 'entirely acceptable bit of fun', after a photo emerged of him dressed as James Brown at a party. 'I went to some trouble to be as authentic as possible. I can assure readers of this column that I have no intention of apologising,' he wrote in a blog post. 'Constituents often write to me having been infuriated by some latest absurdity of political correctness. I tell them that the best response is simply to laugh at it.'

For those who have been following news in the US, however, it'll be no surprise to see the politicisation of face masks come to these shores.

A previous study by YouGov found that only 31 per cent of British people were wearing masks. In the USA, YouGov found that 71 per cent of respondents said they were wearing masks, but it’s still become a huge issue, divided along party lines and a denotation of what you stand for. And yes, it involves Kens and Karens.

Very crudely, the left are pro-facemasks and the right/Trump-supporters are anti-facemask. In many ways, the masks have become the US’s Brexit, where some lines have been drawn, but they’re not entirely correct – and whereby associations are being flung about casually when it comes to the characteristics of those on both sides. Now it seems similar lines are being drawn here.

In the US, it's become the case that so-called Karens and Kens have become perpetrators of non-mask-wearing. Or, to put it the other way around, non-mask-wearing has been a characteristic added to the list of those possessed by Karens and Kens.

To go back a few steps, Karens started in meme-land (Kens are male Karens), as a catchall for a group of women who look, talk and think in a certain way. A Karen is generally from Generation X (the one between baby boomers and millennials), so in her late 30s or 40s, a middle-class white woman, with a specific haircut – a what is often called a ‘can I speak to the manager’ haircut, because of their fondness for moaning and asking for the manager. The hairstyle is that kind of American soccer-mom haircut – blonde, highlighted and short/bobbed, maybe a little longer around the front. Think early noughties Posh Spice. But crucially, Karens are also linked to racism and misunderstanding privilege, the right politically, racism, homophobia, transphobia and being anti-vaxxer.

Karen meme
©.

The anti-vaxxer and perceived discard for others unlike themselves might be key to why those who are refusing to wear masks are seen as ‘Karens’. They’re the type, for instance, who would also believe 5G conspiracy theories – and therefore wouldn’t worry about running around mask-free.

A new social media trope has arrived, where people have filmed videos of people (mostly white and fitting Karen and Ken descriptions) flying into a rage when supermarket workers or those in shops and restaurants, as them to wear a mask. And then posted them onto social media and calling them Karen/Ken. The rants are crazy and often hilarious (in the way a mad toddler screaming can be when it’s so bad it’s funny) and very watchable. But they can also be distressing. To underline the Karen/Ken tie, some have been overheard shouting about Democrats, using it as a slur.

As with most things that become politicised, celebrities have also jumped on the bandwagon – and most of them are on the side of masks. Jennifer Aniston this morning was the latest celebrity to pose in a mask and urge her followers to do so too, with the hashtag ‘Wear a Damn Mask’.

Aniston wrote: ‘Still, there are many people in our country refusing to take the necessary steps to flatten the curve, and keep each other safe. People seem worried about their “rights being taken away” by being asked to wear a mask. This simple and effective recommendation is being politicized at the expense of peoples’ lives. And it really shouldn’t be a debate.’

She joins the likes of Mindy Kaling, Tracee Ellis Ross and Reese Witherspoon, who posted on Instagram, saying: ‘Wearing a mask is not a political statement. It means you care about other people’s health and safety.’

Many celebs have also taken to posting useful images and stats that prove how important wearing a mask can be for slowing the virus in the US, where there's been 2.69million confirmed cases, 129,000 deaths - and some areas are starting to see second spikes.

When Aniston refers to people worrying about rights, she’s most likely talking about the latest bizarre turn in the story – Mask Exemption Cards and the Freedom To Breathe Agency, as reported in the New York Times.

US Government officials have been forced to come out and confirm that the ‘Freedom To Breathe Agency’ is not a government organisation, after they reportedly produced cards people could show to say they were exempt from mask-wearing.

‘Wearing a face mask posses a mental and/or physical risk to me. Under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), I am not required to disclose my condition to you,’ says the card, which misspells ‘poses’ and incorrectly names the Americans with Disabilities Act says the NYT.

One version includes the Justice Department logo and they can be bought online for $49.99 for a box of 500. The NYT contacted the Freedom To Breathe Agency, whose said they were getting hundreds of reports from people who did not want to wear masks and because of that had been ‘denied access, discriminated, degraded, intimated and coerced.’

Now it looks like the great mask debate is predictably being played out similarly here too. Perhaps to an even greater extent given less than a third of people here are currently claiming to use them. And if you’ve been outside, anecdotally, I’d bet you think the number is probably lower in reality.

Upsettingly, the YouGov report found that British people who chose not to wear a mask, often did so because they perceived wearing one would be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Well, quite frankly, we’re on Team Jen (again) on this one. Just wear a damn mask, yeah?

READ MORE: The Karen Meme: What Is It Exactly? And Why Is Everyone Fighting About It?

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READ MORE: Will Wearing Face Masks Now Become The New Normal For Us All?

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