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Masks On (Please)” bravely written by a 14 Year Old Girl

Mask mandates are over, and just the thought of this has made teens insecure. Why?  Well, Have you heard of “mask-fishing”? Mask-fishing is when people look good with their masks on, but are considered ugly when they take it off. This is similar to catfishing but instead with a mask. Mask-fishing has made teens insecure and self-conscious, so, to be safe, they keep their masks on at all times.

You may think, “Oh, my kid is fine. They are just wearing the mask because they want to obey the government and don’t want to catch COVID.” This could be the case, but it is highly unlikely that that is the only reason. Personally, I have friends who feel this way, too. They have told me before that they don’t like taking off their mask (especially in front of their crushes) because they don’t want others to think they are ugly. Most of the time, it’s their nose or skin that they are insecure about.

I feel this way from time to time when I think about it too much, but I try not to. I try to just be confident in who I am because I know and believe that I am pretty. But everyone may not think that, including me sometimes. There are times when I have looked at myself and thought that I was pretty, and there are other times when I don’t like the way that I look at all. While the mandate may be over, there are plenty of people that I know who are keeping their masks on—not because of COVID—because they don’t feel confident without the mask anymore.

Before COVID, a lot of people thought they looked fine, but when they got used to only seeing and exposing their eyes, taking their masks off made them more self-conscious. Some of us felt like we didn’t meet the beauty standards. I feel like it is worse to cover your face for a long time (only to eventually reveal it by taking off the mask) than to just walk around with it off because people tend to picture or imagine the rest of your face in the best way possible. Then, when you reveal your face and it doesn’t meet their standards, they may be disappointed and think of you in a different way. But, if you already have your face out, people know what you look like from the beginning, which takes the pressure off with fewer expectations.

In my friend group, most of my girl friends keep their masks on when they are around my guy friends—not because they want to look cute for them and date them, but because the guys are very judgmental and have high standards for appearance. Therefore, they feel the need to cover their faces because they know that many of the boys will judge and criticize them. We listen to the things that our guy friends say, and we apply those critiques to ourselves. For example, if the boys are on TikTok and see a girl who is beautiful to us, but not to them, they might say, “Ohhh, but look at her nose,” or “Why does she move like that?” or “Her laugh is so weird.” We hear them and are now more self-conscious about how we look, say, act, etc. Then they only say girls are pretty if they are unbelievably gorgeous and enhanced by filters. Those girls are so pretty but are the complete opposite of us, and we don’t want our friends to think that we’re ugly, so we try to fit their standards so that they (and other guys) approve of us. The masks help us do this because we can hide a lot of our insecurities behind it. I find myself doing this often, but I try not to overthink it because I don’t want middle school boys (who aren’t even fully mature yet themselves) to get into my head. I’m trying to help my friends do the same, but it’s hard to get out of that mindset when you’re stuck in it and when criticism is all around you.

Social media also plays a role in this because, thanks to filters, make-up, perfected angles, and specific lighting, when we scroll and see people take off their masks, they are stunning and seemingly “perfect.” Then that brings in even more comparison than it did before COVID existed. That then creates more standards and expectations and insecurities. Half of the time, the “pretty people” on those apps are either edited or altered in some way, or they are adults. We can’t compare ourselves to unrealistic, edited photos because it’s not natural, and teens can’t compare themselves to adults because those adults are fully-grown. All of those adults have facial features that are grown in, and they are developed. This unrealistic standard that we hold for ourselves and that other people (like immature middle school boys) hold up to us is unhealthy and artificial. It is not fair to feel like we are not good enough at age 14 simply because we do not have the body of a 25 year old.

In a world that is moving us further and further away from reality and into a brand new “metaverse,” it is so important to stay grounded and be reminded of what is real, what is natural, and what true beauty really is: the beauty we were all born with and are naturally growing into.

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