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Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

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Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#71

Post by b_tterc_p »

coldtea wrote: post #42
vhb wrote: post #17

Something that shocked me while visiting Korea was a friend explaining to me that a mask is the only way for her to go out without makeup. The societal pressure on appearance is so high, that just going to the grocery shopping without makeup is seen a socially unacceptable. The simplest way around it is to hide your face, and the best way to do so is to wear a surgical mask. On a side note, in Korea, this is not rese…

> The societal pressure on appearance is so high, that just going to the grocery shopping without makeup is seen a socially unacceptable. Well, "socially unacceptable" if you're superficial and want to be popular and trendy. I have a few Korean friends and they don't particularly care. So, it's as much "pressure" as wearing brand name clothes would be in the Valley in the 90s.

Are they actually living in urban Korea with white collar jobs?

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#72

Post by StellarTabi »

I do this, and I'm not more than 12.5% Asian. I bought a few colored ones online because plain white surgical isn't a cute look. I do this because I don't want my lips/ nose to get dried by wind. Scarves sometimes aren't as good, but I'll probably be wearing both half the time.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#73

Post by vorpalhex »

resoluteteeth wrote: post #4

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

Our local clinic in the US has actually started a policy of asking visitors to wear masks if they think they might be sick.

Seems sensible enough.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#74

Post by Jean-Philipe »

booleandilemma wrote: post #70

Have any Westerners here tried wearing surgical masks in public? What was your experience like?

I wore such a mask in Bali, usually when being on a motorbike. People use it as a protection against the street dust. I thought it was quite effective and I got used to it quickly.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#75

Post by tapland »

vorpalhex wrote: post #73
resoluteteeth wrote: post #4

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

Our local clinic in the US has actually started a policy of asking visitors to wear masks if they think they might be sick. Seems sensible enough.

That sounds great. It's horrible being in public transport (Europe) with a compromised immune system.

Two weeks after I went on my medicine someone walked past in a close to empty train and sneezed big lumps of snot onto my face.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#76

Post by scarygliders »

freetime2 wrote: post #48
scarygliders wrote: post #28

My wife is Japanese and I lived in Japan for 6 years. The main reason I've been informed by family and friends for wearing the masks, is to prevent others from catching their cold/flu, as a courtesy. I don't think that article (which I've read before) is a particularly good one - in my opinion it highlights the 'outlier' reasons rather than what in my experience is the main reason, cited above.

The article does cite that reason. > A second global flu epidemic in 1934 cemented Japan’s love affair with the facemask, which began to be worn with regularity during the winter months—primarily, given Japan’s obsession with social courtesy, by cough-and-cold victims seeking to avoid transmitting their germs to others, rather than healthy people looking to prevent the onset of illness.

It does mention it, but the impression I get from actually having lived in Japan for a while is that this is the main reason, but the article has it sort of buried amongst the numerous 'outlier' reasons.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#77

Post by FabHK »

resoluteteeth wrote: post #4

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

I came to say the same thing. From my understanding, people in HK wear the mask largely to protect their colleagues and friends when they themselves are sick (or even potentially sick, eg when one of their family is).

The article didn't delve sufficiently into that, and even implied the opposite motivation with a (snide) parenthesis ("(Surgeons use them to protect patients from their mouth-borne germs, not the other way around.)").

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#78

Post by alexandercrohde »

Just because the masks predate germ theory and pollution theory doesn't mean there isn't a connection.

Traditions & religions have long protected against health risks millenia before we understood those risks medically (religious washing of the hands, wiping with the left, separating pork from other meet, avoiding the sick, adding alcohol to water)

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#80

Post by FabHK »

fyfy18 wrote: post #30
resoluteteeth wrote: post #4

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

Kind of a tangent, but in Japan what's the situation with taking time off work if you are ill and sick pay?

As a different data point, in HK you start out with 7 days annual leave (in addition to public holidays), and after 2 years with the company that increases by a day per year every year, up to a maximum of 14 days annual leave after you've been with the firm for 9 years. (Companies can offer better conditions, needless to say.)

One also accrues paid sick days (2 per month initially, later more).

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