Zed A. Shaw, Painter

I have a cultural observation regarding the US's quarantine efforts and my experience as a painter. For background, I wear surgical gloves while I paint and have been doing so for years. I also do a lot of painting outside, which is the main reason I wear the gloves.

The purposes of the gloves for me when I paint is cleanup and to save my skin which is sensitive. But, the cleanup is the main thing b/c painting outside you don't have access to water and soap. When I pack up I just snap the gloves off and pack, so no paint gets anywhere.

Now this is a perfectly reasonable reason to use gloves when you're painting. It says nothing about my masculinity, skill as a painter, or anything other than it's easier. Buuuut, I'd say 80% of the time when almost anyone sees me wearing gloves they ask, "You wear gloves?!"

They're almost *offended* that I'd cover my hands while I paint. Painters will make fun of me with this weird kind of toxic masculinity like I'm missing a testicle because I wear gloves. A "real painter" gets paint all over and drinks cadmium and turpentine straight!

It's even worse if they find out I'm a programmer. They already think I'm a dork for wearing gloves--and in the US being a dork is the worst thing you can be--but throw in programmer and clearly I have no idea what I'm doing and am a real wuss for wearing gloves.

I started wearing masks early on in the pandemic and I had the same reaction. People yelled at me that the mask was useless, why am I wearing that, looking at me like I'm a weirdo. They went out of their way to shame me in much the same way as when I wore gloves.

I can't explain why, but Americans have some kind of weird aversion to protective gear. If you wear earplugs at a concert you're a dork. If you wear gloves while you paint, put on a N95 mask, have your guitar at a comfortable height, all bring shaming and claims you're a dork.

Why I find this strange is the USA is also a culture of invention. We've been finding clever ways around problems for hundreds of years, and are known for this, so you'd think they'd be like "Wow cool hack! You should get patent." But when it comes to protective gear, nope.