Only those who show their face can communicate completely. Words are not enough. And those who can’t read the other person’s lips usually don’t understand him well. Three experiences from the time of the masked people.
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First: My easily ignited holy wrath speaks Bavarian. As a saleswoman behind the glass pane plus mask is not to be understood, it escapes me: "Nemmas halt Ihrn bleeden Fotzndeckel off!"Unfortunately, Bavarian does not help here, although it offers so many beautiful expressions for the face, the most valuable part of the human body: the Bappn, the Riaschl, the Gfries, the Goschn and also the Fotzn. "Magst a Fotzn!" is not a sexist impertinence, but the threat of a slap in the face.
The mask is considered the mildest of all coercive measures. But beware! The longer it applies, the more dangerous it is. It damages our image of man in both the literal and the figurative sense. The individual is only recognizable by the face – but the individual no longer counts. That is why the face is an indispensable expression of freedom. But we are – I fear, in the long run – only with mask for complete, collectively capable citizens held.
The medical mask is the uniform of fear, the camouflage of panic in the faces, the banner of mindfulness. The mask is a white flag. Normality has capitulated.
Absurdity wins: only the human being made unrecognizable by means of a mask is still accepted as a human being. Something has thoroughly slipped, not only over the tip of the nose.
In the face sit not only the most important sense organs, but also the muscles of our facial expressions. We know how to express emotions and states of mind in a matter of seconds: Anger, sadness, joy, disgust, desire, affection, fatigue. Only those who show their face can communicate completely. Words are not enough. And those who cannot read the lips of others usually do not understand them well.
By the way, this also applies to listening to music. We absorb the vibrations of music with our whole body, especially with our mouth, and the rhythms influence our breathing. It does not work behind masks. And in conducting, mind you, facial expressions are just as important as the hands.
Especially between young children and their parents, between pupils and teachers, in the dialogue between classmates, facial expressions have an indispensable function. The face praises and rebukes, warns, challenges, reassures, mocks, threatens, and encourages. The mask obligation produces therefore with the child fears with long-term psychological consequences. Only no school at all is worse. But this is really no consolation.
With mask we are amputated. With a mask, whether we like it or not, we are at a distance from the other. Let’s tell it like it is: the mask takes away the human features. It is an inhumane instrument. One should therefore never accept the mask duty as the new "normality".
Second: The view through the entrance door of a gallery. I involuntarily perceive the commandment sign as part of an art installation and relate it to the Playgirl masked as a bunny rabbit. The "mask duty" is unmasked here as what it is: obscene nonsense and expression of naked despair. The famous sentence of George Orwell can be applied effortlessly to the Corona State. "At fifty, everyone has the face they deserve."
This may be true for individuals, but it is also true for a community in a pandemic panic. Dialectics: with the mask duty the real existing democracy lets fall the mask. It now openly shows the grimace underneath.
The words of Albert Camus also apply to the best Germany of all times: "After a certain age, every person is responsible for his face."If that’s true, then Germany has every reason to wear a mask in order to hide the fact that freedom is going down the drain. For the subject, he must no longer be responsible for his face, but only for hiding his visage according to regulations. Open faces are considered an imposition. They take a liberty that is not theirs to take.
Side effect: one naturally does not address anyone who is not recognizable, but only signals the desire for distance. It is no small thing that for the past two years we have been systematically hindered from engaging in conversation with others. Forced masking is also a form of isolation.
There is a good reason why the German Assembly Act prohibits mummery. Whoever publicly demonstrates for a cause should also stand up for it with his or her face. In the meantime, demonstrators are subject to the obligation to wear masks, without the ban being abolished.
Third: See how the other person (f/m/d) stares at me suspiciously! I take pictures without asking for permission. I only dare to say this because we both wear masks. It is still outrageous. The inhibition threshold has disappeared because I no longer perceive the other as a person. Compulsory masking makes individuals invisible. With a mask he is only an anonymous part of a crowd.
It is even worse: we see a potential threat in our fellow man, a dangerous person. The Masked Passenger Continually Warns: Caution! Distance! Proximity can be fatal! Does anyone believe that this would not have a deep impact on coexistence in the long run??!
I feel it in myself. Because no one recognizes me with a mask, my anger becomes more coarse, more impudent, more unrestrained, more insulting. I let myself go. That is not good. Life would be healthier without a mask.