Unmasked: COVID-19, Face Coverings, and Navigating Dis/Abling Spaces and Cultures

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, policies have been established that have exempted some disabled people from wearing a face covering in public spaces. Yet, despite the introduction of such policies, disabled people have reported being challenged and abused for not wearing one. Drawing upon key ideas and tropes from disability studies and the sociology of the everyday, we sketch out the adverse effects and ambiguities caused by the pandemic relating to the use of face coverings, along with how emerging cultural norms and notions of shame are publicly mobilized to police conduct. Touching on themes of access, materiality, in/visibility, and in/exclusion, we conclude that face coverings are simply another artifact through which disabled people are read, judged, and excluded in public life. We also contend that face coverings, and the controversy surrounding their use, are another example of how disabled people have been overlooked, disregarded, and disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.