Open AccessThe Villain Unmasked: COVID-19 and the Necropolitics of the Anti-Mask Movement
Author(s) -
Jordan Grunawalt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
disability studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2159-8371
pISSN - 1041-5718
DOI - 10.18061/dsq.v41i3.8343
Subject(s) - rhetoric , covid-19 , movement (music) , sociology , aesthetics , unpacking , political science , governor , art , philosophy , medicine , linguistics , virology , physics , disease , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , thermodynamics
Despite over 2 million deaths from COVID-19, the Anti-Mask movement has grown in Conservative spaces. This article takes a closer look at the breadth of the Anti-Mask movement, unpacking specific signs, cards, and anthems. I explore the necropolitical implications of their rhetoric, critiquing the ways American Conservative leadership, through the megaphone of the Trump administration, Senator Cruz, and Governor Kemp, facilitate this rhetoric. I aim to contextualize their rationale and explore how the rhetoric surrounding refusing to wear a mask ultimately leaves us with the harsh reality that they, and the politicians who support them, prioritize individual comfort over protecting vulnerable lives.