the world really has become so much more hostile towards neurodivergent and deaf people - really anyone with communication difficulties and disabilities, particularly invisible ones - throughout this pandemic. even social justice advocates and/or leftists have become really hostile in these last six months and itās justā¦ itās exhausting. i canāt talk about how painful mask-wearing is without someone āprogressiveā telling me that i have to wear one. i know i do! and guess what? āthis is extremely difficult for meā and āthis is extremely important to doā are statements that can, yāknow, co-exist. they are both true.
and itās not like i donāt understand why this is happening. As I understand it, the series of events has gone something like this:
masks/PPE became mandatory in public (with laws and regulations varying around the world, of course) to inhibit the spread of the virus
certain groups ā largely older, upper-class white people, celebrities, and the more affluent ā refused to wear masks. In America, this had a very political undercurrent that spread via the internet; these people acted like being forced to wear masks was a violation of their rights, or like it was some sort ofā¦ political statement? not to wear one?
Aforementioned groups start saying things like they canāt wear masks because itās uncomfortable, feels weird, makes breathing hard etc. Others claim that thereās no point in wearing masks, since the virus āonlyā kills the elderly and chronically ill (yikes). Misinformation and false news spreads about how masks lower your blood oxygen, stop your breathing, and other such bullshit.
Everyone with a shred of moral decency has to work twice as hard to be socially responsible. You wind up with this schism, where on one side you have people refusing to wear masks and making false claims about them to further their own agendas, and then thereās people making genuine good faith efforts to be socially responsible.
It becomes common to see savage take-downs on Twitter where some old white guy says āWearing masks makes it impossible to breatheā and someone else replies saying āTell that to the doctor who wore one for four hours to deliver my babyā. These get screenshotted and shared around the internet to widespread approval.
People who genuinely struggle to wear masks get shunted out of the conversation. It doesnāt matter that we try to do our part, everyone is suddenly so keen to be Woke and Responsibleā¢ that just saying āWearing masks isnāt easy for everyoneā gets you attacked. Nobody seems to want to listen.
Earlier in 2020 I tried to talk about this and got slammed with the expected āuh yeah everyone can wear masks sweetie. if you donāt want to wear one just donāt go outā. But you know what else I got? A flood of asks and replies from people thanking me for talking about it, because either they or members of their family had the same/similar struggles, and felt like they couldnāt talk about it. That still resonates with me. And when I say āresonatesā I mean āI start tearing up because there is nothing worse than being told by a supposed ally that your pain is inconvenient or doesnāt matterā.
So justā¦. be a bit more empathetic, please? Yes, be aware of misinformation. Yes, continue to challenge those who refuse to wear masks for selfish reasons. Yes, do everything you can to look after others during this terrible time. But for the love all the gods and good things, remember that this isnāt a black and white issue. Have an actual conversation! Explore options! Listen to other people! I promise you itās a LOT more productive to say āOkay, hereās what we can do to help youā or āHere are some ideas to make PPE/Masks more comfortableā than it is to lash out.
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