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Any precautionary control of physical appearance and conduct gets a reaction in America. If a school demands a dress code, people go nuts. It's immediately sus

by Digory 6y ago

Any precautionary control of physical appearance and conduct gets a reaction in America. If a school demands a dress code, people go nuts. It's immediately suspected to be unfair, overly broad, racist, sexist, and ableist, probably invented by perverts who think too much about adolescent sexuality. If you tell them the dress code is a courtesy to others, kids and parents will get in your face and protest it. [0] Masks solve a (big) problem in some (limited) situations -- mostly close contact. But the rules are written to be over-inclusive and inconsistent. It's a protection against the chance you're infected and don't know it. Some municipalities are demanding them outdoors, in sparsely-populated areas, and indoors with your family. You don't get to present your body how you want, and your communication is stifled. Masks are a dress code for the face. I wear them. But some people are going to get angry. [0] https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/9/13/17847542/students-waging-war-sexist-racist-school-dress-codes https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/9/13/17847542/students-wa...

dTal 6y ago
I think it stretches the meaning of "dress code" to breaking point when the required item is functional. Are seatbelts a "dress code"? Open carry weapons? But I think you hit the mark closer with that little hedge of "and conduct", at the beginning. This isn't about dress codes per se, it's about rules - many Americans simply hate rules and reflexively rebel against them. Any suggestion that one should make a sacrifice for the collective good is invariably met, from some quarters, with a kind of moral outrage - often accompanied with self-righteous rhetoric giving frequent mention to "freedom" and "liberty", and often "the Constitution" and "founding fathers" as well. The inability to make collective sacrifice is a huge social weakness that interferes with the formation of a civil society, and in my opinion it is, more than anything else, the reason America is handling the pandemic so poorly - not just in terms of the acute response, but also the very structure of society. For example, due to overwhelming distaste for the idea of paying to fix other people's problems even if it's manifestly better for society as a whole, there's no socialized healthcare, or functioning social safety net - both of which cause people in low-paying service jobs to drag themselves to work while fighting COVID-19.
- Digory 6y ago
  Imagine a place in which open carry weapons were mandatory, though, on the chance you’re able to help someone who is attacked. Many would be angry about the overinclusive rule. It would be more about the message to others about safety than actual safety. “Let them help themselves, if they’re so risk averse,“ you might say. In at least some places, “masks all the time” isn’t entirely about function. Do masks really work better in casinos and schools, but not churches and funerals? Or, as in Maryland this week, do they work differently in public schools and private schools? People sense that the mask in some situations is partly about a certain kind of authority and conformity — and they don’t like to conform with their face and body.

by Digory 6y ago

dTal 6y ago

I think it stretches the meaning of "dress code" to breaking point when the required item is functional. Are seatbelts a "dress code"? Open carry weapons? But I think you hit the mark closer with that little hedge of "and conduct", at the beginning. This isn't about dress codes per se, it's about rules - many Americans simply hate rules and reflexively rebel against them. Any suggestion that one should make a sacrifice for the collective good is invariably met, from some quarters, with a kind of moral outrage - often accompanied with self-righteous rhetoric giving frequent mention to "freedom" and "liberty", and often "the Constitution" and "founding fathers" as well. The inability to make collective sacrifice is a huge social weakness that interferes with the formation of a civil society, and in my opinion it is, more than anything else, the reason America is handling the pandemic so poorly - not just in terms of the acute response, but also the very structure of society. For example, due to overwhelming distaste for the idea of paying to fix other people's problems even if it's manifestly better for society as a whole, there's no socialized healthcare, or functioning social safety net - both of which cause people in low-paying service jobs to drag themselves to work while fighting COVID-19.

Digory 6y ago
Imagine a place in which open carry weapons were mandatory, though, on the chance you’re able to help someone who is attacked. Many would be angry about the overinclusive rule. It would be more about the message to others about safety than actual safety. “Let them help themselves, if they’re so risk averse,“ you might say. In at least some places, “masks all the time” isn’t entirely about function. Do masks really work better in casinos and schools, but not churches and funerals? Or, as in Maryland this week, do they work differently in public schools and private schools? People sense that the mask in some situations is partly about a certain kind of authority and conformity — and they don’t like to conform with their face and body.