Actor Dave Bautista called out men who have refused to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic “little b—s” in his latest blunt tweet. Studies have shown that men are less likely to wear face masks, including a Gallup poll from last month in which only 34% of men said they “always” wore a mask when they leave home. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised Americans to wear facemasks indoors and wherever social distancing is impossible to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Bautista retweeted a tweet from actor Kumail Nanjiani, who wrote, “Shout out to dudes who think masks are weak but that Batman is cool!” The Guardians of the Galaxy star also expressed his frustration with men refusing to wear masks. “Dudes who think wearing masks are weak are little b—es,” Bautista wrote. “There I said it!! I’ll wear a stupid fucking mask just to let people know I care. You’re not trapped in it. You’re not giving up a liberty. You’re helping. You’re fighting. Wear that s— like a badge of honor.”
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Many of Bautista’s followers agreed, with some men even sharing photos of themselves wearing a mask. “I actually kind of like em,” one fan wrote. “They may be a bit inconvenient but they can look good.” Another wrote, “We all get to run around like Ninjas while helping each other ‘ WTF us wrong with everyone?…NINJAS!!!!”
Back in May, researchers from the Middlesex University in London and the Mathematical Science Research Institute in Berkeley found that men were more likely to have negative feelings about wearing masks than women. “Men more than women agree that wearing a face-covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness, and a stigma; and these gender differences also mediate gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering,” authors Valerio Capraro and Hélène Barcelo wrote in the study.
While more states and localities have issued mandatory face-covering requirements, a more recent poll by Gallup found that only 34% of men “always” wear masks, compared to 54% of women. Twenty percent of male respondents said they “never” wear a mask when they leave home, while just 8% of women “never” wear masks. The study also found mask usage was different based on political affiliation. Sixty-one percent of Democrats said they always wear a mask when leaving home, but just 24% of Republicans do. The poll was conducted before President Donald Trump tweeted it was “patriotic” to wear a mask.
Although the number of confirmed coronavirus cases eclipsed 5 million in the U.S. over the weekend, there is still no national mandate requiring face masks. Late last month, a Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll found that 79% of respondents support a national mandate.
