Why Do People Wear Mask

It is the common consensus is that people wear mask as tool to improve their chances of success. Societal achievements are often attached to and measured by displays of opulence, which in turns becomes signifiers of status to the public at large. These signifiers become the litmus by which others come to judge success. It can be something as large as new house or car or as insidious and implicit as the right shade of skin, each becoming more attached to the idea of success and wide scale acceptance in the larger public consciousness. Since, human beings are communal based animals by nature, societal perception is often vital in determining who is successful and who is not, thus making masks a useful tool to achieving success based on the society one inhabits. This is an essential concept explored in books like The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Passing by Shirlee T. Haizlip, and Monique Wittig’s short biography. In fact, when talking about society as it relates to these books and its effect on its …show more content…
When a woman plucks her eyebrows, does her nails, goes to a hairdresser or gets plastic surgery, she is constructing a mask based on the aforementioned standards. This is done to ease her signification and acceptance as a woman by society at large.
Furthermore, this focus on outward display’s fall in Fitzgerald’s Gatsby creating a new identity to gain acceptance in a world that is out of his reach. Like Gatsby, Woman in society are implored to fashion a façade that helps them make their way through society, except while Gatsby’s mask deals in material wealth, Wittig’s mask is defined as a physical transformation. Both are used in similar ways though, helping to gain acceptance, access and even favor or the affections of the people their hearts desire. Nonetheless, the behavior of Daisy and Myrtle are classic example of Wittig’s