2.2 Face covering as symbol of concealment
Face coverings have been variably associated with assuming a different
identity, as a form of expression, to avoid recognition and persecution,
at masquerades and during cultural ceremonies and processions. Some
women wear face veils as part of religious traditions. Yet with the
current pandemic the sociocultural connotations of wearing a face
covering has changed, and in many settings a person who is not wearing
one is seen as a threat to the safety of others.15This is generating new symbolism around socially constructed deviance.16 As a community adopts face coverings, initially,
the first members wearing a face covering will be seen as deviant, yet
later, those without coverings are deviating from the new
norm.17 The social norms around how this deviance is
tolerated, is likely to vary between a society’s tightness (for example
Singapore) and looseness (for example Brazil).11