2.3 Face covering as symbol of solidarity
In Czechia, a community-led #Masks4All advocacy campaign rapidly
reshaped societal norms around the acceptability of wearing a face
covering in public. ‘Mask-trees’ helped to distribute face coverings and
communities co-ordinated creating face coverings for each
other.18 Social media was used to share messaging
about making them at home, demonstrate celebrity support for the
campaign, distribute songs to encourage their use and add humour through
photos of public statues wearing face coverings. This created a
movement, likely because wearing a face covering is a conspicuous action
– which prompted others to imitate this behaviour and follow the
example. #Masks4All slogans such as ‘keep your droplets to
yourself ’ and ‘my mask protects you, your mask protects me’appeals to a shared set of moral values. This can create new symbolism
around wearing, making and distributing face coverings that is based on
solidarity. 19
2.4 Face covering as symbolic muzzle
COVID-19 prompted country-level mandates on lockdown, physical
distancing and face covering in the interest of public health and worker
safety.2 In some contexts, these collective measures
have been interpreted as an infringement on civil liberties and
autonomy, with the face covering symbolising a
muzzle.15 This conflict between norms has played out
in retail spaces, where employees enforcing the wearing of face
coverings as requirement for using a retail service have been subjected
to verbal and physical abuse by consumers.15 Some
public figures, including the President of the United States, have on
occasion refused to wear a face covering as an assertion of authority.
Some conservative women in the USA have appropriated the slogan “my
body, my choice” from the pro-choice movement to which many
conservatives are opposed, to protest mandated face coverings as an
infringement on civil liberties.20 Implementing face
coverings in the face of such deeply-held resistance will not be easy,
and requires active reframing of the social practice. Rather than a
muzzle imposed by the state, the person wearing the mandated face
covering might be framed as a protector, thereby making the practice
more acceptable.
Incorporating sociocultural narratives in guidelines for face
covers
Guidelines for face coverings have predominantly framed them within
medical narratives, using infection control messaging with a ‘public
education’ approach.1 We argue that uptake of face
coverings will be advanced by adapting this medial narrative to include
sociocultural narratives. This adaptation should embrace social meaning
and moral worth of face coverings. This could enable the public to
select a face covering that is meaningful to them and which they will
feel able to wear. (See table 1).