There are a number of states that now require citizens wear masks when going out in public. These measures are to preserve public health, but a vocal minority of protestors say the measures are infringing on their freedoms. This view is widespread among some protesters, despite seeming counterintuitive.
How can measures meant to preserve your health be infringing on your freedom? After all, the mask measures aren’t permanent. They’re also not unconstitutional, at least, according to most legal scholars. Many have likened these measures to ordnances that prevent people from smoking in schools or restaurants.
Just like people who need quit smoking help, those who are infected with COVID-19 could be endangering the lives of those around them with their breath. But, instead of seeing the measures as important facets of public health, many are rebelling against the measures.
Some of the protesters may see wearing a mask as a signal of weakness. For these people, they may have unconsciously chosen to reject wearing a mask because it could show they are afraid of getting COVID. If they don’t wear a mask, then the disease has had no effect on them. Or so they think.
This is likely not a conscious decision on the part of any protesters. This is simply a psychological motivator working under the surface. According to psychologist David Abrams, “Putting on that mask is about as blatant as saying, ‘Hey, I’m a scaredy cat,'” to people thinking this way.
Abrams, a professor at New York University’s School of Global Public Health, told CNN that this reaction is understandable. However, this moment is serious, and responding to it seriously is an important aspect of the US’s public health response.
Some people are highly resistant to any new restrictions on their behavior. As stated above, this parallels the rough outline of arguments surrounding smoking bans. Even some people who did not smoke protested measures in some cities that were meant to preserve public health. Bans on smoking in restaurants are now commonplace, but unheard of in the 1990s.
This isn’t uniquely American, but it is more prominent in American society. Many born in the US have a particularly strong attachment to “freedom,” in an abstract sense. They resent any infringement on what they see as their personal freedoms, even those that are for the good of the public.
Others may simply find the masks uncomfortable. After all, the practice of wearing facemasks in public is very new to the US. Many are simply hoping that treatments and a vaccine for COVID will be available soon enough that they can stop worrying about masks altogether.
