What do “bountygate” and the COVID-19 pandemic have in common? Toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity has become deeply entrenched in many aspects of our society,from COVID-19 responses to major league sports. Football demonstrates just how normalized it is within our society. Toxic masculinity is a set of ideals based on toughness, aggression and being a real man. It has always been present in sports, but is very visible within football where aggression, toughness and violence are key components of the game, as well as with anti-mask sentiments in the COVID-19 pandemic. How and it what ways does toxic masculinity affect mask wearing?
Football is a prime example of how toxic masculinity has become a normal part of society. Between 2009 and 2011, the New Orlean’s Saints created a bounty sytem. Amongst the players and coaches, a pool of money was generated with the purpose of paying off players for injuring members of the opposing team and causing their removal from the game. In 2011,evidence came to light suggesting the exsitence of this system and an investigation resulted. At the system’s front was head coach, Sean Payton. In 2012, penalties were officially dealt out for the scandal, landing Payton a suspension from the 2012 season. Payton’s image within the media can be considered that of a man’s man. He embodies the ideals of toughness and aggression and is someone who makes his career out of coaching, what is arguably one of the toughest and most violent games in North America. Football embodies the ideals of toxic masculinity, including toughness, aggression and violence. By encouraging the purposeful injury of other players,Payton, was supporting the ideals of violence and aggression rather than playing a fair game (Pinak, 2020).
[Image Source: [Photograph of Sean Payton without a mask]. (n,d). Coach Sean Payton And Saints Fined ForNot Wearing Masks (1079ishot.com)]
Now in 2020, Payton is at the forefront of toxic masculinity again, this time relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has become one of five NFL coaches to be fined $100 000 for the refusal to wear a mask on the sidelines (Middlehurst-Schwartz, 2020). Masks have become a staple in today’s world for protection against illness and are mandated in most locations. Yet, there are those who are wholly displeased with the idea of being required to mask up in public.The COVID-19 infodemic could be to blame for this resistance, with masses of varying information about the virus swirling around. But, why is it that evidence given by science is rejected for alternate claims? It can be boiled down to the way the ‘truths’ are presented. Take the US president Donald Trump for example, Trump can be seen openly flouting the virus and the need for mask wearing with aggression and an inherent disregard for political correctness.The way he presents his ‘facts’ lead others to believe they are the truth (Harsin, 2020).
With the inherent value of toughness, toxic masculinity can lead men to shy away from mask wearing for fear of ruining this image. There seems to be an inherent shame in protecting one’s self. A mask is a seemingly simple way to offer protection from the novel virus circulating the globe, yet why are men less likely to use it? Studies have shown that men are more likely to take health-related risks. They are more likely to drive recklessly, less likely to visit the doctor and less likely to wear a mask in public (Petter, 2020). These risky behaviours are linked to how men are socialized and the toxic masculine ideals they try to embody. An American study found,“that men and women who embrace masculine norms of toughness are equally likely to feel negative affective responses toward the idea of wearing masks” (Palmer & Peterson, 2020, p.6).Mask wearing has now become intrinsically linked to identity. By wearing a mask, men are admitting a weakness and a vulnerability, compromising their masculine ideals (Palmer &Peterson, 2020). Sean Payton’s refusal to wear a mask is explainable by his subscription to these values. He is a man who makes his career out of inherently tough and aggressive sport. His identity has become linked to his ability to display toughness and a mask interferes with this. The act of wearing a mask forces the admittance of a vulnerability to the COVID-19 virus which damages the façade of masculine toughness. Aware of the NFL penalties for failure to comply toCOVID-19 protocols, Sean Payton disregarded the mask mandate anyways. This blatant disregard for protocol and the desire to be fined rather than wear a mask shows how damaging toxic masculinity can be and how deeply entrenched and important it can become. A mask is an easy solution, and a $100 000 fine is a large sum of money, but the desire to maintain an aura of toughness is deemed worthy of the cost (Middlehurst-Schwartz, 2020).
The cultural meaning of being a man has created a population of men who oppose the wearing of a mask and find the state of risk desirable. It can be seen in presidential leaders,sports, and public responses to mask wearing policies. There is the strong belief that to be a true man you must take risks. Many men support their avoidance of masks with claims that if they get it, they get it and they will be alright. These logics are inherently flawed and perpetuate a dangerous ideal for themselves and others (Hruby, 2020). Risk taking should not be a desired behaviour and masks are for more than the protection of the self, but the protection of others as well. If toxic masculinity will persist with the shaming of the protection of the self, there needs to be a reframing of the importance of masks. Masks are there to prevent the user from transmitting the virus, more so than protecting the wearer from contracting it. If men will refuse to wear masks for protecting themselves than it needs to be reframed as for the protection of others. Hopefully, this will speak to men’s ideals of manliness and toughness by promoting the need to protect vulnerable members of the population (Schimelpfening, 2020).
References
Harsin, J. (2020). Toxic White Masculinity, post-truth politics, and the COVID-19 Infodemic. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 1060-1068. Retrieved fromhttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1367549420944934
Hruby, P. (2020, May 15). "You're a Coward If You Try to Protect Yourself". Retrieved from Hreal Sports: https://hrealsports.substack.com/p/youre-a-coward-if-you-try-to-protect
Middlehurst-Schwartz, M. (2020, November 29). Saints, Patriots, fined for violating NFL's COVID-19protocols, per reports. Retrieved from USA Today:https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2020/11/29/saints-patriots-fined-nfl-covid-19-mask-violations/6455842002/
Palmer, C. L., & Peterson, R. D. (2020). Toxic Mask-ulinity: The Link between Masculine Toughness and Affective Reactions to Mask Wearing in the COVID-19 Era. Politics & Gender, 1-8.Retrieved from https://www-cambridge-org.proxy.queensu.ca/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/8753DA181D76C7D59D6712C8F0C666E7/S1743923X20000422a.pdf/toxic_maskulinity_the_link_between_masculine_toughness_and_affective_reactions_to_mask_wearing_in_the_covid19_
Petter, O. (2020, October 6). 'Real men don’t wear masks’: The link between masculinity and facecoverings. Retrieved from Independent : https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/face-masks-men-masculinity-coronavirus-lockdown-boris-johnson-b1077119.html
Pinak, P. (2020, May 15). "Bountygate" Revealed The Darkest Side of Professional Football . Retrievedfrom FanBuzz: https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/new-orleans-saints-bountygate/
Schimelpfening, N. (2020, August 4). The Simple Science Behind Why Masks Work. Retrieved fromhealthline: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/the-simple-science-behind-why-masks-work