Marjorie Taylor Greene hates face masks, but she sure has quite the collection. There was the much-parodied “CENSORED” one she wore while dissenting against impeachment—quite a claim, since the speech was broadcast on nearly every major news network.
The QAnon conspiracy theorist promoted the alt-right slogan “Molon Labe” (ancient Greek for “Come and take it”) on one mask, and owns another that screams “Free Speech.” So for all of her posturing on liberal tyranny and muzzling mandates, Greene understands how to wield messaging and deflect accountability through her masks. She’s not the only one.
Representative Tom Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, posted a photo on Twitter in a mask that read, “I’m just wearing this so I won’t get fined.” Similar styles are available on Amazon, and cost around $5 to $12. (Representatives for Massie declined The Daily Beast’s request for an interview.)
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Masks have been required in the House chamber and other office buildings since last July; Democrats recently imposed penalties for those who choose not to wear them. This comes after three lawmakers tested positive for COVID while hiding during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot alongside others who did not cover their faces.
According to The Hill, the first-time fine for rule-breakers is $500. It jumps to $2,5000 the second time. The cost gets deducted from their paycheck. And if that doesn't work, there is always public shaming. Last week, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown called out Rand Paul: “I would like to ask Senator Paul, in front of everybody, to start wearing a mask on the Senate floor like the entire staff does all the time,” he said. “I wish Senator Paul would show the respect to his colleagues to wear a mask.”
Missouri congresswomen Cori Bush also asked Greene to wear a mask while the Georgia rep was on Instagram live. “I wanted it to be on the live stream that we are saying, ‘Put your mask on,’ and then her team turned around yelling, ‘Stop inciting violence with Black Lives Matter,’” Bush said in a follow-up interview on MSNBC. “What does BLM have to do with this? Put on a mask and save lives.”
When mask requirements became an unavoidable daily reality for Americans last year, capitalism quickly did its thing. Designers transformed their warehouses into mask production facilities. The accessory became a “lifeline” for a struggling retail industry. Masks are a basic safety precaution, certainly, but they can easily be turned into a sandwich board for anyone and any cause.
Freedom Unmasked, which began as an Etsy store but is now its own freestanding e-commerce site, sells a baby pink mask with chunky white lettering that reads, “My husband didn’t serve in this country for me to wear a mask!”
“What happened to My Body, My Choice?” asks the text on a royal purple face mask.
Another message, over navy blue cotton: “The devil made me wear this.”
“All masks are made out of 2 layers of cotton, and soft ear loop elastic,” the product description reads. “They will protect you from exactly 0% of viruses.” (The proprietor of Freedom Unmasked did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment.)
The Daily Beast reached out to three other Etsy sellers who make anti-mask masks; two declined to comment.
“Even [your] remark that my masks are ‘anti-mask’ is misleading,” one wrote in an Etsy message. “I hold anti-MANDATORY mask views, that is a huge difference in implication.”
Another seller said that they were “not interested in character assassination or demonization, or having my efforts to fight back against tyranny be mocked or discredited publicly.”
But not everyone who hate-sells masks online, well, hates masks. Some sellers just see an opportunity. The Etsy shop DuckOffMugs offers coverings that read “Stick this Mask Up Your Arse” and “Plandemic 20/21,” but also “#EndWhiteSupremacy” and “#JusticeforBlackLives.” Whatever you believe, you can print it on a face mask.
“When I’m designing, I think beyond myself,” Virginia, the DuckOffMugs owner, said. (She asked that her last name be kept private.) “My slogans are open to everyone’s views and opinions with an added touch of sarcasm. I am highlighting people’s voices about the pros and cons when it comes to debating masks. My intention is to be respectful and not to offend any group of people.”
Her most popular design is an $18 black mask with “Inhaling My Carbon Dioxide Keeps Me Safe,” written in block text. “It’s a sarcastic phrase,” she explained. “People are questioning its effectiveness and want to break the government control with its mandates. Public health versus personal liberty. On the other hand, think of all the lives that have been lost due to the pandemic. Many people believe that masks are an effective measure.”
Virginia said that she personally chooses to wear a mask when in public, per government guidelines. Those who don’t? “That’s their choice,” she said. She will sell to just about anyone.
“My political slogan masks are meant to be tongue in cheek humor,” they said. “We are not robots. We all think differently and believe in different things. We are humans expressing ourselves and have done so since the beginning of time.”
Gavan Fitzsimons, a professor of marketing and psychology at Duke University, told The Daily Beast that he “really likes this product category that has emerged” of anti-mask masks.
“The alternative for the folks who are wearing those masks isn’t a mask with no statement, it’s probably no mask at all,” Fitzsimons said. “So these masks give them an ability to express themselves, but they’re still wearing a mask. In a way, this is a really positive development.”
The best way to get people to do things, according to Fitzsimons, it to make them fell like they have a choice in the matter. For some people, that might mean wearing a $16 “Forced Virtue Signaling Device” mask to Walmart.
“Anti-mask masks are a creative way to give agency to people who feel that their freedom has been taken away,” he added. “They can reassert their freedom by selecting a mask they like and making a statement at the same time.”
Fitzsimons believes there is a “net positive” in getting people to mask up, no matter how obnoxious their slogans may be. Plus, anti-mask masks help people in a crowded grocery store know who to avoid.
“Those masks are a signal that the wearer might not be taking the safety advice of our medical professions very seriously,” he said. “They’re probably more likely to be getting together with people, less likely to social distance. So I probably wouldn’t want to be in contact with someone wearing that mask.”
