Small sample sizes, and likely weighted by my age (old as the hills) and region (Northern New England), but I have an observation about the demographics of who is still masking. The only double-masking I have seen in the last six months or so has been females in medical settings. These are in a small urban setting and its clinics in the suburbs. There is still more masking there even in 2023, particularly among females. Everyone at the dentist seems to be masking, but when you think about it, they may do that forever at this point, Covid or not, for solid reasons. Talk about air exchange.
I am interested in A) any actual research you see out there and B) your actual observations of people you know, whether you see them at the post office or correspond with them 1000 miles away. I am not especially interested in speculations of who you bet it's going to be and why. Not because I don't think that's always untrue, but because I generally believe I can make up such theories better than you anyway, and have to force myself no to. If I can't have that fun, why should I encourage you to?
The research I am reading all seems to be about who adopted masking in 2020, which may be related but seems the wrong way to look at this. That's a large difference in variables that could admit many trucks unnoticed. I can very much see that having someone immunocompromised in the household or in frequent contact would push one toward masking, but I am sensing - mostly by pure prejudice and bias of my own - that this seems to be a sliding scale, and includes anyone who has a chronic condition. Even then, if it's your husband or your boyfriend I would hope that there's a lot of air exchange going on (or we've got an entirely different set of problems to discuss here, young lady) and you get a pass. But your sister, a hundred miles away, who you see half-a-dozen-times a year? Hmm.
Here's my sneaking suspicion, and I am looking for data. I think women who have never had children are masking more than everyone else. Let's not guess why until we have some sense it is actually true, and not just a few people I know. I read research 6-12 months ago that the unmasked and masked single females differed along the lines of whether they were seeking romantic partners or not. I haven't been able to find it again, and it may not have held up. Variables of age, location, profession- all those could impact that. But it does make intuitive sense, and you can fit it to your prejudices. Those young women seeking partners are taking too many risks! Or those women who aren't seeking romantic partners are just overcautious ice-princesses anyway! Bias is always equal-opportunity.
Speculation later. Police yourselves here. Data first, then we can have fun later. I am particularly interested in what is happening by workplace and profession.
23 comments:
Ok. At this point it is mildly surprising to see anyone wearing a mask. I see it more in towns than elsewhere (which, purely as data, are majority Democratic voting areas in a countryside that’s not), but even in medical settings it’s not uniform. Data entry staff usually don’t; nurses and doctors actually treating patients have been (but I haven’t been to a doctor since the Feds rescinded the mandate).
It’s usually elderly people, more often women than men.
Agree with Grim on my surprise that I see as little masking as I do, though we are in roughly the same geographic area. I'm on a cruise right now and observing about the same percentage on the ship, i.e. it's gone from largely non-existent prior to COVID to occasional enough to be notable. I'm somewhat surprised given the demographics of the passengers that it isn't more common. I have no workplace data since I'm permanent WFH. I sense an overlap between maskers and Democrat-leaning demographics. Purely coincidental.
So at my workplace we always had high masking, as it's been recommended for chemo patients for years. From what I can tell I think their family members seem to be masking more frequently in places they aren't required to, which I'd attribute to increased awareness.
As for other places, I've watched it at mass and can't say I've seen a distinct pattern. A lot of couples are still masking, mostly older. The primary time I see younger adults masking seems to be among those who actually don't go to mass that often. We have first communion going on right now and the extended families accompanying the kids mask at higher rates than the rest of the congregation.
In DC and Boston in the last few weeks I saw almost no masks, and no one on the plane was masked.
To your speculation though, research from late 2021 suggested that political party was a driver in mask wearing. IIRC, childless women are one of the bluest demographics. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/11/30/heres-whos-still-wearing-masks-the-most-and-least/?sh=7245e45e5698
"Childless women are one of the bluest demographics." Well, so much for the conservative accusation that it's all this single mothers who want the government to take care of them.
And yet I think there is something behind this, and perhaps that blueness is the the discussion I really want to have, and masking is just the visible sign. One of the interesting things about Covid and masking is the visibility. Before that we were guessing and tentative, but when there is a partisan divide that has a visible cue it seems to set us all off. In looking at demographics research today I came across three studies (two from the same group a year apart) that showed Democrats were 75%+/- of the group that were annoyed at so many others who weren't masking, while Republicans were over-represented among the (much smaller) group who thought others were being ridiculous for still masking. Making our own decision and just shrugging at what others do seems beyond all of us, sadly. We aspire to that ideal but still react strongly to what we see before us. We are all libertarians in theory but not in practice, perhaps.
I think there are a couple of streams feeding into this blueness/childless/masking intersection. Heavy stereotype and prejudice alert, but I have some actuals in mind. There is a group of women who would consider pregnancy catastrophic and are thus strongly prochoice and ironically but yet consistently, not very sexually active. With males, I mean. They are urban and academic, also NPR/liberal Democrat*, and they do not tend to be huggy, expansive people. These are not the older women who were wailing about not being able to hug their grandchildren, I'll-risk-dying crowd.
I think they like visually signalling this. I was really irritated at the males who used non-masking to signal their political populist/conservative/screw-you-all mentality 2-3 years ago and I don't like this any better. In my limited correspondence, these women are very (very) quick to point out that they are still masking and cautious. I hadn't asked, y'know?
It's hard to keep reminding myself that they are padding the numbers of the legits who really need to mask, and not tar the others with that brush. I'm calling it 50%. Which means I need to take a deep breath and not attribute this to the legits. Whenever we give in to those prejudices, God sends us someone whose son died of Covid early on and she still masks around his sister, you know?
In the construction trades, making fun of maskers is one of many topics during lunch break, along with sexual commentary at others' expense and talk of hunting/fishing/guns in general. At least all this holds true in my midwestern neck of the woods.
Today in particular, one of my co-workers said he thoroughly enjoyed the year of COVID, as instead of dealing with traffic whenever he went into town, he was often the only truck driving around.
At my church (greek orthodox) there will occasionally be some elderly person or couple from out of town who visits with a mask, and I still see one or two (also elderly) members of the congregation who still mask, but I'd say 98% of my congregation took off their masks permanently at some point last year for good. I occasionally see the odd masker at the grocery store or wandering about town.
Missed asterisk, from above. They do not tend to be particularly woke, however. They are uncomfortable with the whole question, not wanting to side with conservatives but sensing that things have spun out of control. They are often TERFs, unused to being attacked from a leftish side at all.
My dentists and the hygienists all wore masks even before the pandemic. Considering that their mouths get very close to my open mouth, it makes sense.
""Childless women are one of the bluest demographics." Well, so much for the conservative accusation that it's all this single mothers who want the government to take care of them."
It often gets expressed as single mothers, but I think the demographic is simply unmarried women; that is, women who cannot rely on a man to take care of them, and turn to the government.
@ Uncle Bill - I don't say that's wrong, but it's wrong about the particular examples I am thinking of. Academics, clinicians, and researchers with graduate degrees, supporting themselves quite well.
Anecdotally, I also know many women with advanced degrees who support masking as well as left-feminism even though they are either married or self-supporting. This is done, I gather, out of a sense of ideological solidarity with women whom they think are better off in general with a strong, paternalistic government intervening in every aspect of life to protect women’s interests (as they see them).
In terms of data, though, I think Uncle Bill is right. My old friend and long blogger opponent/antagonist/beloved comrade Casandra regularly made that point and cited statistics to prove it.
I'm a childless woman, but not unmarried, and never was much into masking.
Hardly anyone masks here in South Texas, though I occasionally see someone even now at the grocery store. My various doctors' offices (Corpus Christi) and dentist's office (here in Rockport) aren't masking any more. The local assisted living facility has a "please mask" sign on the front door but no one seems interested in it, and I didn't observe any masks inside.
The last time anyone insisted on my wearing a mask was the little storefront place where most of us get blood drawn. I won't go back there. I'm not sure they're even open any more; I may have to start going to the nearest town.
I had minor surgery in February. No one at the little hospital in nearby Victoria was masking. Ditto for the surgery center where I had a colonoscopy in Corpus Christi late in 2022.
Two bits of data from flyover country.
1. 8 Humanities graduate students in classes, all early- to mid-20s, 4 male, 4 female. I don't believe any of them are married. Only one of the women masks and she has what I consider a very reasonable medical reason to do so. One other woman I sometimes see in a mask outside class, but sometimes not. No idea why.
2. My church, about 100 in attendance at liturgy, no one masks except the occasional visitors.
BFriendshuh - Christos Anesti!
I could speculate on that observation, but in line with the original plan:
At the grocery stores this morning, maybe a tenth or fewer were masked, and most of those seemed to be older folks.
It seems more common among teachers, who skew female--and given that parents have been known to send fevered or even (once that I heard of) vomiting children to school, that makes some practical sense.
Children of parents who are masked, are also masked. At an orchestra concert with about 80 students, perhaps 5 are masked.
Some workplaces still require/urge it, as I learned at prayer meeting this morning.
One man I used to work with is doing his level best to work from home even after most of the team has returned--he even gave up the nice office.
At the college (NY Upstate) there are some staff & faculty who mask all the time, and others who mask occasionally -- generally it will be:
• Someone's got flu at home, and they don't want to carry it in and transmit it.
• They're feeling like they are coming down with something, and don't want to risk infect others.
They'll often explain why they're masked, hence I know the above.
I've had a few of the mask-all-the-time folks in meetings in my office, and when I ask if they'd like me to mask they aren't fussed either way.
It strikes me that I do see more females masked than males, amongst adults, but about equal amongst the undergraduates. Amongst the adult masked are both parents and non-parents.
I can't think of any students who are always masked, but there are many who are occasionally masked. It seems that as attendance on a particular day drops because many people have stayed home for illness, the masks appear, and then within the week they disappear again. We've had about 3 cycles of non-covid flu over the past 2 semesters.
I'm beginning to think that the HEPA air-cleaner I keep running in my office has had more effect than any of the other actions, but I'm still a proponent of good masks properly worn. I used to catch and suffer from every respiratory illness that passed through the school, and can only think of one day missed for illness this past year. (although shingles shots had me feeling dreadful for a day . . .)
And I think it has been well demonstrated anecdotally that singing in company of others is a high-risk activity for spread of respiratory illness -- people are both inhaling deeply to support their voice, and expelling their breath with more forcefulness than normal. So I tend to mask in church where I'll be singing, and then remove the mask for socializing in coffee-time which is in a separate room. It's not so much that I fear getting any virus as I fear bringing it from the college and infecting all the oldies at church.
In our region all the doctors of any sort are requiring masks at all times in their place -- not being unfriendly about it, and they have masks at reception to hand out to those who come unprepared. These are only surgical masks however, and the staff also wear surgical masks rather than N95 or near-equivalent.
Out in the community, I'll hardly ever not see someone masked in the supermarket, but it is usually only one or two of all the people I see.
I'm in Utah, and I don't see much mask-wearing anymore. The exceptions seem to be people with mild sickness who wear a mask to prevent infecting anyone else. I can definitely appreciate that, and I hope that stays the norm. I also hope I can similarly remember to be so courteous when I have mild symptoms.
I have some evidence to suspect that's not related to political leanings. My research assistant wore a mask the first time I met him because he had some mild symptoms. I've yet to have any occasion to discuss his political beliefs, but I'm getting he leans more to the left. Meanwhile, I worked with a grad student at BYU a little while back who was doing the same thing. I also don't actually know his political leanings, but I'm assuming he leans right, at least socially. It's noteworthy both of those guys are in their 20's and both are married.
I've also seen people at my church who I'm fairly confident would consider themselves right-wing wear masks when they might be harboring an illness.
I spend a decent amount of time around the Asian community (stores, events, etc.) here as my wife is Asian. I do see Asians wearing masks more often than anyone else. However, we just had a Japan festival in Salt Lake last week, and I saw very little masking. It was mainly outside, so that might have something to do with the lower masking rates.
The hospital system associated with the University of Utah required masking at all their facilities until recently. I think they only dropped the requirement at the beginning of April.
I was in Japan last Fall for 10 days. Nearly everyone wore a mask, indoors and out. The exceptions were usually fashionable, young couples. That probably doesn't help much with your current line of inquiry, but I thought it was interesting.
In BC there are almost no masks in sight. We wear them in medical situations, but not really anywhere else.
There is the odd person with a mask, but its quite rare now.
My doctor's office still requires masking (I'm in western New England), but that's about the only place. Everywhere else is at most "recommended" or "encouraged." The staff at the dentist's office dress like they're trying to contain an Ebola virus outbreak, but don't require masking from patients, for obvious reasons.
Most, but not all of the people I see masking are women. Can't say much about their marital status, but they seem to be all ages. Maybe a slight tilt to older.
However, just a couple of weeks ago I was part of a Zoom meeting which included one man who apparently was masking for the occasion. Make of that what you will . . .
My personal gut feeling is that some proportion of the maskers are doing it as a sign of party/class/status allegiance, and the rest are just scared of getting sick.
I am grateful to you for undermining my prejudices. I will probably keep them anyway, but at least it won't be your fault.
A bit more data. Where I live the social distancing is baked in.
I was joking with a guy at the gas station where I wash my car, lined up the get change for the machine, we were about 2 meters apart. I mentioned that we were so well trained. He said personal space was finally a thing, and we both burst out laughing.
1 bit of data, plus a 'general situation' report.
Informal presentation, 9 humanities faculty, 8 middle aged & 1 early career, 4 women, 5 men. A middle-aged married couple masked. There were also 2 grad students, both female, 1 masked. Of the 3 total masked, 2 took them off when they left the room.
General situation here in flyover country: I rarely see masks anywhere. It's rare enough that I have no impression of the demographics of it. This includes the university campus.
For me, too, the sightings are so rare that it's hard to say whether there's a demographic pattern. Perhaps I identify the memory of the occasional mask in the grocery store with a woman.
Like PenGun, I have also noticed that distancing is the norm (it took until day 4 of our cruise before people would crowd into any available elevator, something that happened the day after departure on pre-2019 cruises). Single entrance queues have also become far more common. I am reminded of a comment you made awhile ago about the famous NW European lack of physical affection being related to the prevalence of URIs in those areas vs Southern Europe.
Usually female, in her 70s, shopping alone at the grocery store. I saw one today; it struck me that she also wore an unusual amount of jewelry, 3 rings on one hand, several gold bracelets, a necklace, etc.
Otherwise, wealthy couples visiting the area for the weekend, picking up supplies for a cocktail party. I've seen people wear masks when they have had a recent exposure to someone who tests positive, usually when they have to work, but don't want to expose others.
A few old and feeble people, too. I tend to assume they're being treated for cancer.
In general, it's rare to see someone wearing a mask.
Post a Comment