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