Influential political commentator and former television host Tomi Lahren recently tweeted a joke about presidential nominee Joe Biden, writing, "Might as well carry a purse with that mask, Joe."
Her reasoning for doing so isn't hard to unravel. As a conservative publicist, she hopes to make Biden look weak, unmanly and wimpy. Biden frequently spotted wearing a mask in public, has been an advocate for widespread mask usage.
And true enough, he may not be gracing the cover of GQ with his choice of facial coverings.
The joke also lends some branding support to the image of President Donald Trump as someone who does not need help or protection. We witnessed this branding effort on full display by the scene of the president ripping off his mask with bravado, while actively contagious.
Yet, at face value, the joke is flawed. Using outdated gender stereotypes, one could argue that Trump is the weaker one because he contracted the deadly virus while Biden stayed healthy. Trump himself used that tactic four years ago when he teased Hillary Clinton for getting pneumonia during a critical stretch of the 2016 campaign.
The joke that Lahren offers is far more hurtful and offensive than a typical political attack. The message it sends are not only outdated but harmful about masculinity and femininity.
The real message it sends is this: Men who engage in protective health measures are less than men. They may even be women because women are a weaker and inferior gender and need protection. Real men do not. Only women should proudly wear masks. And men who carry purses or wear masks aren't really men at all.
The message implied in the joke is present even though wearing a mask is the number one protective measure against contracting COVID-19, a disease that has killed more
Americans.
Although the tweet is fresh, its message is dated and deadly. And it has been killing men for a