The Face Mask in COVID Times: A Sociomaterial Analysis

117 Pages·2021·1.975 MB·English

by  Deborah Lupton, Clare Southerton, Marianne Clark, Ash Watson

Deborah Lupton, Clare Southerton, Marianne Clark and Ash Watson
The Face Mask In COVID Times

Deborah Lupton, Clare Southerton,
Marianne Clark and Ash Watson
The Face Mask
In COVID Times
A Sociomaterial Analysis
ISBN 978-3-11-072325-0
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-072371-7
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-072379-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021931902
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Contents
List of Illustrations VII
Preface IX
 Introduction: The Shifting Meanings and Practices of Face
Masks 1
Introduction 1
Sociomaterialism: theoretical perspectives and concepts 5
The history of the face mask 10
Medical and public health advice on mass masking in COVID
times 11
Rest of the book 16
 Face Mask Politics 17
Introduction 17
Medical mask supply politics 17
Mask-wearing politics 20
Internet debates and memes 25
The politics of co-becoming with masks 27
Conclusion 29
 Living with Face Masks 31
Introduction 31
COVID masks entering everyday worlds 31
Domesticating COVID masks 34
Embodiments of COVID mask use 36
Conclusion 42
 Face Masks and Breath 44
Introduction 44
Contemporary understandings of humanbreath 44
Breath in the context of COVID 47
New vocabularies and materialities of breath 49
‘I Can’t Breathe’: the politics of breath 53
Conclusion 55
VI Contents
 Face Mask Making Cultures 57
Introduction 57
Crafting cultures 57
The artisan mask 59
The home-made mask 63
The makeshift mask 65
The community drive mask 67
Conclusion 70
 Face Masking and Care 71
Introduction 71
Philosophies of care 71
Face mask wearing as symbolic of care for others 73
Politicising mask wearing asan act of care 77
Implications for the care of nonhuman others 78
Conclusion 82
Epilogue: Masks Matter 84
References 86
Index 100
List of Illustrations
Figure1: Hand-madefabricmasksorderedonline.Photocredit:DeborahLupton.
Figure2: Child’sfacemasksusedformake-believeplay.Photocredit:MarianneClark.
Figure1.1: AcoupleinNewYorkCitywearingCOVIDmasks.Photosource:JulianWan,Un-
splash.
Figure1.2: StreetartfeaturingMrSpocksportingaCOVIDmask.Photocredit:NickBolton,
Unsplash.
Figure1.3: PosterissuedbytheProvincialBoardofHealth,Alberta,Canada.Photocredit:
GlenbowMuseum(PublicDomain).
Figure1.4: Noticethatfacemasksshouldbeworninsidethisbuilding,CityofCleveland,
USA.Photocredit:DJJohnson,Unsplash.
Figure2.1: Amask-shapedsignusedataprotestinTrafalgarSquareinLondon,UK.Photo
credit:EhimetalorAkhereUnuabona,Unsplash.
Figure2.2: Amaskusedtodisplaynationalidentity.Photocredit:BermixStudio,Unsplash.
Figure3.1: PeoplewearingmaskswhileexercisinginSydney.Photocredit:KatieTrifo,Un-
splash.
Figure3.2: Amaskdesigntocomplementahighfashionoutfit.Photocredit:AndreasWeiss,
Unsplash.
Figure4.1: Breathbecomesmorevisibleincertainclimacticconditions.Photocredit:Pavel
Lozovikov,Unsplash.
Figure4.2: AfacemaskworntoprotestagainstthedeathofGeorgeFloyd.Photocredit:
DavidRamos,Unsplash.
Figure5.1: Hand-craftedCOVIDmasks.Photocredit:GabriellaClareMarino.Unsplash.
Figure5.2: ArtisanmaskaspartofanIndonesianbride’soutfit.Photocredit:AhmatMuhli-
sin,Unsplash.
Figure6.1: Thefacemaskassymbolicofcaringforfriends.Photobypixpoetry,Unsplash.
Figure6.2: Adiscardeddisposablefacemaskbecomeslitter.Photocredit:CateBligh,Un-
splash.
Figure6.3: SigninaSydneyuniversitypublictoilet.Photocredit:DeborahLupton.

Preface
Deborah
2020 for me has been ayear of different kinds of face masks, for different pur-
poses. The first time I ever saw mass mask wearing was when I visited Japan
inJanuary2020forafamilyholiday.TheCOVID-19crisiswasjustonthehorizon
buthadnotyetaffectedJapantoanygreatextent.InthestreetsofTokyo,most
peoplewerewearingmasksinpublic: notduetofearofnovelcoronaviruscon-
tagion, but because it was winter, and this was an accepted custom to prevent
againstthespreadofseasonalcoldsandinfluenza.Ifeltillateasewhenwalking
around in Tokyo with my face uncovered.Were Japanese people looking at me
andmyfamilyandjudgingusforeignersbecausewewerenotbehavinginsocial-
lyacceptablewaysbyshunningmaskwearing?EachtimeIcoughedorsneezed,
I wondered if the Japanese people near me were subtly edging away from me,
feeling disgust at my poor manners and lack of hygiene. It was impossible to
tell.The masks on their faces made it difficult for me to assess their feelings.
WereturnedhometoCanberra,thenational capitalofAustralia,acitythat
for weeks on end was filled with choking bushfire smoke from the horrendous
‘Black Summer’ of 2019–2020, affecting many parts of Australia for months
on end. I could see, smell and taste the risk of the smoke-polluted air.We pur-
chasedanairfilteringunitforourhomeandkeptallourwindowscloseddespite
thestiflingsummerheat.IorderedaspecialfacemaskfromtheUKtofilterout
the tiny particulates from the fires near our city that were blown in by strong
windsandsettledinthebasinborderedbymountainrangesinwhichCanberra
lies.The mask was ugly and chunky. I tried to stay home and out of the thick,
dark air that some days ranked among the worst in the world for dangerous
air quality levels. I wore the mask for brief periods when I went outside to see
how my garden plants were faring in the long, very dry summer. I noticed
some other people walking their dogs along my street, also wearing masks.
This was the first time I had ever seen people wear face masks of any kind in
my neighbourhood. I hated the airless sensation of the thick mask on my face,
and how hot and uncomfortable it felt. But I knew that breathing in this
smoke could have ill effects on my lungs, so I needed to wear the mask.
By March 2020, cases of COVID were beginning to increase rapidly in Aus-
tralia, and restrictions and lockdowns were implemented nationally. At first,
we wereadvised not towear facemasks.Later in the pandemic, health author-
itieschangedtheirminds.Facemasksbecamepartofthecomplexprecautionsin
whichAustralianswereexpected(orinsomecases,required)toengageto‘stop
the spread’ and ‘get out of lockdown’. I heard that disposable face masks were
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110723717-001