What Justice Gorsuch's masklessness says about society

Article here. Excerpt:

'On Friday, we witnessed an unusually ugly spectacle at the US Supreme Court. Neil Gorsuch sat on the bench maskless (as he also has on other occasions), while his colleague Sonia Sotomayor -- who as a diabetic is at higher risk of severe disease if she contracts Covid-19 -- participated remotely from her chambers. A Court spokesperson didn't respond to a question from The Washington Post about the incident. But it would make sense for Sotomayor, who usually sits next to Gorsuch and has reportedly expressed concerns about contracting Covid-19, to be uncomfortable that he wasn't wearing a mask. The episode was a shocking display of male entitlement.
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Gorsuch's choice not to mask up was an act of the same variety as men who "manspread" on the subway by sitting with their legs apart so there isn't legroom for the person next to them or use "bro language" like referring to their sexual exploits in the workplace. This kind of behavior often makes women feel uncomfortable and even unwelcome in public settings, including their places of work. In the case of Gorsuch's disregard for Sotomayor, it was particularly inappropriate because not wearing a mask posed a potential threat to her health.

There's a very gendered nature to the debate about masking. While plenty of women don't wear masks or support public masking, a study in the academic journal Politics & Gender found an association between masculinity and an aversion to mask wearing, which suggests that men are less likely to wear masks. Women, on the other hand, tend to be more risk averse on matters related to our health, according to a study published in the journal Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World. Stanford researchers also recently found that men who refuse to comply with Covid rules such as mask wearing are also more likely to commit sexual harassment and have sexist views. This makes perfect sense, since they're all outrageous displays of entitlement.'