Vox attempts to get to the bottom of 'what Trump's refusal to wear a mask says about white masculinity in America'

Sarah D | 4:23 PM on May 12, 2020

It’s not the hot COVID19 take you asked for, but it’s the one you’re getting, thanks, of course, to the Smartest Thinkers™ at Vox:

What Trump’s refusal to wear a mask says about white masculinity in America https://t.co/dRveQPkxz4

— Vox (@voxdotcom) May 12, 2020

Tell us more, Vox!

While the refusal to wear masks isn’t an exclusively male phenomenon — a Michigan woman was arrested last month after police said she attacked a grocery store employee who told her to leave because she wasn’t wearing a mask — there is some evidence that men may view mask recommendations with more skepticism than women. In the April Morning Consult poll, 76 percent of women said they planned to wear a face mask in public over the next two weeks, compared with 67 percent of men.

Though Trump’s narrative around the virus may be reinforcing gender stereotypes, the issue of masks is revealing Americans’ racial biases as well. While white men have been able to appear in public without masks — and with guns — as part of a protest, black men have been targeted by police, both for wearing and for not wearing masks. In Philadelphia, officers were caught on video forcibly removing a black man from a bus for not covering his face, just one day after the city began requiring it, Fabiola Cineas reported for Vox in April. [Twitchy editor’s note: And plenty of people — including white people — were rightly outraged by that.] And a police officer in Miami handcuffed and arrested Armen Henderson, a black doctor who tests homeless patients for Covid-19, as he loaded equipment into a van in front of his home — while wearing a mask.

Black Americans often have to engage in “social signaling” to make white people feel comfortable in public spaces, said Price, the political science professor. “You say good morning first, you smile first,” she said. “None of that can be done with masks.”

White people often already perceive black people as dangerous or not belonging in public places, Price said. “But a black body with a mask is something that somehow expresses even more danger.”

I saw a group of black men hanging out in a crowded group on the street without masks on yesterday. At no time did I think "Well, look at how black masculinity is affecting this virus". There is no evidence whatsoever that there is any racial difference in mask-wearing practice.

— You Should Have Voted For Gary (@colorblindk1d) May 12, 2020

I’m for voluntarily wearing masks and encouraging it during flu seasons like many asian countries, but this is getting ridiculous

— ⋇ Nico ⋇ (@PetiteNicoco) May 12, 2020