Are Women More Likely to Wear Masks Than Men?

Based off a preprint study provided by The New York Times, “….found that American men were less likely to wear face masks and that fewer men than women believed that they would be seriously affected by the coronavirus.” This can be due to the fact that people notice the inconsistency of the mask mandate throughout the country, which makes them question the validity or even not comply with the mandate. According to PMC, “Some limited research also supported that men and women reported similar face mask wearing willingness and behaviors surrounding the SARS pandemic, but such preventative measure were not formally recommended by most government during this time and such gender differences would be difficult to observe due to low base-rates.” Throughout the pandemic, there was an inconsistency with mask mandate compliance throughout the states, which lead to an uncertainty of the legitimateness of mask wearing among the public.    

  

  When the pandemic had first started, everything slowly started to shut down. It eventually turned into a nationwide shutdown. Sage Journal stated, “Since the SARS-CoV-2 (commonly referred to as COVID-19) pandemic began in early 2020, public health officials have largely relied on voluntary compliance for social distancing, mask wearing, and hygiene practices to slow community spread” (Phillips 2020).  According to The New York Times, “About 67 percent of women said they had worn a mask outside their home, compared with 56 percent of men, according to the Gallup poll, which was based on a random sample of 2,451 adults in the United States and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.” 

There is a big difference between states enforcing the mandate versus not following it at all. Sage Journal makes a note of, “Although regulatory compliance strategies are best thought of as fitting along a continuum, they are most often described as fitting into two categories: enforced versus voluntary compliance” (May 2005). Without enforcing the mandate and just having a voluntary compliance, people won’t willingly follow the rules if they don’t have to. Which then will upset other people who are forced to abide by these policies. Sage Journal states, “Unsurprisingly, traditional enforcement of mask mandates has been found to be more effective in some populations, and research also suggests that voluntary mandates are perceived as unfair and may contribute to the stigmatization of mask wearing” (Betsch et. al. 2020).

 

Some people totally disregard the whole mandate and restrictions. The way their state is handling COVID-19 could influence how they react towards it, but it's not always the case. They think that doing all these precautions aren't beneficial and are foolish. Going out in public, you'll always see people who don't comply and are fine with the choices that they make. A meta-analysis provided by PMC concludes, “…women were 50% more likely than men to engage in nonpharmaceutical protective behaviors (e.g. mask wearing) during epidemics and pandemics, and in the COVID-19 pandemic women report wearing masks more often than men.” When people are closed-minded, it’s harder for them to see how they're overall actions affects others. However, it does go back to the idea of how there is an irregularity of compliance between states that influence people's decision to follow these rules as well. 

            

This is an image provided by BBC showing a woman are more likely to wear a mask 

             than a man. 

To go along with the previous paragraph, women may be more willing to abide by mandates and restriction because men don’t want to be seen as vulnerable. The New York Times provides a statement from Dr. Alexander saying, “We condition males in our society to be tough with messages that wearing a mask shows worry and concern about one’s health.” The stigma that goes with wearing a mask for men shows that women truly care more about people’s well-being and compassion for others.          

       

    Within the past few months, states have been lifting COVID-19 restrictions and masking policy. However, the inconsistency with the mask and restriction compliance had caused the public to have mixed reactions to that. The New York Times states, “The decisions add to the confusion and patchwork of nature of what Americans can and cannot do. While some people welcomed them as a relief and part of a return to normal life, others asked whether sates were moving too fast at a time when more than 200,000 new infections were being announced each day and when the country was reporting more than 17,00 deaths a week, more than at any other point in the pandemic except last winter.” What was said in The New York Times is an example of how the inconsistency affected the public view of when the mandate actually wasn’t in effect anymore. To add to the confusion, The New York Times stated, “Even as governors were lifting rules, officials in some cities, counties and school districts indicated that they would keep their own mandates in place, adding new complication to an already confusing array of rules across the country.” 

           

                        The inconsistency with the mandate and the compliance of the states had caused the public to have a doubt about the validity of it. It leads to a gender difference in the compliance mandates and restrictions. More women are more likely to mask up and abide by rules than males. Overall, the pandemic was dealt with in a very poor way. When something affects the country like COVID-19, there should be consistency and compliance throughout the whole nation because the public just follows along with the rules created by the government and states. This can happen if the government and states work together Without having the consistency, it leads to doubts and among the public and they become least compliant.