Toxic masculinity in times of pandemic kills all of us... [View all]

[Soph0571]

Priya Elan writes in the Guardian yesterday about how face masks are the condom of the face. He draws parallels with the behaviour of a certain type of man when the Aids epidemic was raging and how they refused to wear a condom during sex, even though it was proven that a barrier sheath could protect against the virus and save people dying a horrible death. Sound familiar? It is this same type of man who today refuses to wear a face mask... as Elan points out in The data is in: men are too fragile to wear Covid-19 masks. Grow up, guys...

This week Scientific American called masks the “condoms of the face”, arguing that the struggle to get men to wear masks during this pandemic has parallels in the struggle to get men to wear condoms during the rise of HIV. While it seems strange to compare something you’d wear so visibly in public to something worn privately in intimate moments, the analogy underscores how some men’s notions of masculinity are intertwined with a corrosive mix of petulance, indestructibility and, ultimately, privilege. The article cited research showing that “masculine ideology” is associated with rejection of condom use.(Emphasis Mine)

They are the same men who think they should rule the world, never mind that their fragile and toxic ego's makes them the worst kind of decision makers. They do not think that the rules apply to them. They think they are the kings of the world, they are invulnerable and that is what makes them so dangerous to the rest of us.

Of course in this febrile atmosphere of the right wing turning the pandemic into a culture war, because of course they did, Elan discusses how these horrid levels of toxic masculinity as being turned into something even more dangerous with men (and some women) demonstrating a super spreader mentality, because they can. As Elan says It gets worse: not wearing a mask hasn’t just become toxic masculinity, it has become a form of weaponised masculinity.

Fundamentally wearing a mask should just come down to common sense, and maybe that is why these men are acting like such dicks. They have never had to develop that survival instinct that comes down to common sense cause they are pampered spoilt gits who lived a life of white male privilege, so screw the rest of us. There is a great line from this article that says For men like this, ego itself has become a figurative – and, they seem to believe, literal – shield. Yep, this is exactly how they think. Of course, back in land reality where the rest of us live, we know their toxic ego will not save them from Covid-10 but it is yet another way they can kill the rest of us. Yay! 👀

Full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/03/covid-19-masks-men-masculinity