End The Stigma
A chat about face masks with Pro MUA and Activist Yuui Vision (MEMBERS ONLY)
*Note: Please refrain from sharing the private Youtube link to this video, and instead, invite your friends to join my website. It takes time and money to create this content for you, and having lovely and loyal paid subscribers means I can continue to create more and more! I’ll be sharing clips of this video on social media which you can repost to raise awareness of this important issue.
I’m willing to admit that only a few weeks ago, wearing a hygienic face mask to leave the house seemed drastic. What did I know? Suddenly, masks are this season’s hottest accessory, as more and more people begin to embrace them as a necessary tool to stay healthy during these uncertain times.
So, why is it that Asian members of our community are continuing to face discrimination for covering up?
Wearing hygienic masks in order to contain and prevent viral infections has been a standard practice of courtesy for decades across many Asian countries, including China, Japan, and Vietnam. The look has even become trendy with Japanese fashion fans in Western culture, prompting those who dress up in Lolita, Decora, and rave looks to embrace the –often bedazzled– cloth masks purely for fashion.
But lately, hate crimes against Asians have been rampant in the US as well as parts of Europe where the virus is spreading. Particularly triggering to people seems to be the appearance of Asians wearing masks.
I’m ashamed to admit it, but early on in February when word of the Coronavirus outbreaks in Wuhan were beginning to trickle into the news and onto our feeds, I remember feeling mild shock when a Chinese family– all donning masks– boarded the crowded subway car I was sardined into. As an American, my first naive thought was “Oh my god, what do they have??”, before contemplating how long I could last holding my breath through the L-train tunnel. In retrospect, I’m happy I can confidently say I know exactly what they had: common fucking sense.
If someone like me has been unknowingly cultured to stigmatize Asian people in masks, it’s no wonder so many hate crimes are being recorded suddenly as harmful rhetoric such as “Chinese Virus” circulate through angry and frightened communities lacking the education necessary to make informed decisions. People have become reactive and explosive as we all grapple with the confusion and uncertainty of our collective wellbeing.
I think we can all agree, life has been changing dramatically and therefore so have our fashion choices. I am always one to vouch for frivolity, but desperate times call for practical measures and that means dressing in a way that not only brings joy to ourselves, but that also keeps us safe and secure.
After professional makeup artist Yuui Vision created a post online expressing her anger and frustration around the racist reaction Asian members of the community have been receiving for adopting masks into their everyday attire, I knew she was the perfect person to talk with about how to fight the stigma around wearing masks in the wake of a pandemic. Half Chinese, half Japanese, and hailing from Japan, Yuui shares her experience with us in the video above.
Key points:
1:40 - Read Yuui’s Instagram post that inspired me to interview her
3:10 - Learn about why wearing in masks in Japan is so normalized
4:40 - Why hygienic masks have become a trendy fashion statement in Japanese culture
6:57 - Hear what Yuui was warned about before she came to live in America
8:39 - Yuui explains from her experience, how it feels to be Asian in America during the Coronavirus Pandemic
11:25 - Why you need to “Look up the facts before you react”
11:52 - How we can help de-stigmatize the culture of wearing face masks
14:00 - Makeup tips and tricks for mask wearing
Heres a link to the mask tutorial Yuui recommended.
You can learn more about Yuui on her website, and make sure to follow her incredible artistic makeup work on her instagram page.
Please stay safe and informed, friends!
