A type of awareness, a sort of restriction, and the centre of attention, are just a few of the descriptions attached to a surgical mask out of its context. Amongst students and strangers, this participant observation proved to be somewhat an intriguing experiment. Including both offensive and sincere reactions towards one wearing the surgical mask, the experience provided, captivates the opinions/ judgements made by others, creating a sort of self-insecurity. Thus, proving that a simple unfamiliarity creates a total curiosity, an ordinary becomes unfamiliar purely due to situation. A surgical mask is a form of prevention towards airborne diseases, indicating either a potential risk or the individual wearing the mask possibly having contracted …show more content…
Individuals looking in detect the emotions my partner and I presented, sensing whether the reasoning behind the surgical mask was a serious or comfortable situation. My/ partner’s appearance strongly influenced the opinions of others, behaving in the norm one develops a care-free reaction however; a slight unfamiliar gesture creates a sense of unease and anxiety amongst others. Alongside the outside observation of noting how and why individuals may appear to be looking at myself and my partner the way they were, I began to observe the features, characteristics and general behaviour of the judging individuals. Having time to take a look at common attributes of strangers, I not only observed the ‘outside perspective’ of myself wearing a surgical mask and my partner, but I began developing this ‘outside perspective’ for pass-byers. Overall noting how the “unmasking disease” experiment is anthropologically viewed by identifying the ordinary in such a way that it becomes …show more content…
Along with a surgical mask, I sort of self- insecurity develops, simply owing to the pure fact that you feel secluded from the surrounding population. The surgical mask being worn out of context in such a place where it is not considered the norm provides room for judgement. Through noticing the judgement of others and observing my partner being judged, one not only worries about the surgical mask, but also about their own self appearance and how it is compared to