How Masks became Politicized in Arizona

Phoenix AZ

30 November, 2021

2:08 PM

Description

Wearing masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 has been a controversial issue in America from the beginning of the pandemic. It is especially true in Arizona. Arizona has traditionally always gone Republican in presidential elections, with a few exceptions such as 1996 when Bill Clinton won in Arizona and in 2020 when President Joe Biden won. Biden's presidential election had the highest support, 49.4%, a Democratic candidate level has had since 1964 according to 270 to win statistics. "I think that masks have been politicized because they give an automatic visual for everyone to see what someones believes might be underneath their mask," Arizona State University business student with a focus on global politics Autumn Sayler said. Sayler said that she has heard people say that even if they are vaccinated, they are still going to wear their masks because they don't want others to assume that they are Republicans. A study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information that surveyed counties across the nation concluded that the tendency to wear a mask in public was significantly lower in counties that strongly supported the then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Theoretical and experimental studies by economists also mentioned in the study have found that leading by example is one of the most effective ways to reach a collective goal, such as preventing the spread of the virus by wearing a mask. This study reinforces the NCBI theory that Trump supporters were looking for guidance from the former president on the importance of wearing masks to battle the pandemic and the message they got is that masks weren't important. "Masks have become politicized due to common bipartisan stereotypes. While the idea of "them versus us" already existed in politics, the mask mandate only amplified it," ASU business communications student Lola Algibez Flores said. Algibez Flores added that for many leftists the idea of wearing a mask to protect others was just the right thing to do, while right-wing people are typically seen wanting to stick to what they know, showing more resistance to change over traditional methods. "The disconnect occurs with the misinformation provided in the media by illegitimate sources. Lack of knowledge for both ends of the spectrum will continue to cause a divide between people who will continue to find ways to find differences between themselves and others," Algibez Flores said. In early August Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake spoke at an anti-mask rally at the ASU Tempe campus, where she told the crowd of students of about 100 to take their masks and tell Michael Crow to shove it. Lake, who just got endorsed by former President Trump, continues spreading his message that masks are not important despite the scientific facts and CDC guidelines. When asked how the COVID-19 pandemic has made life more difficult or challenging, masks were the number one concern for Republicans according to a survey by Pew Research Center. 27% of Republicans were skeptical about the efficiency of masks and severity of the pandemic, while 31% of Democrats expressed concern that others aren't taking the pandemic and masks seriously. This divide between emotions and facts is what has polarized masks an item meant to help prevent the spread of a deadly virus. "ASU hasn't further politicized the mask mandate in the state as they kind of just went with CDC guidelines which as a federally funded institution they are required to do so and took the correct steps in terms of keeping hundreds of thousands of people safe," said Sayler.