Masks: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

This month, I join the genre-istas in talking about Masks.

Many of us wear them, sometimes even me. (And no, that is not me in the picture, just a friend doing cosplay).

But I do put on a mask almost every day of my life.

My mask is not made of paper, or plastic, or even makeup. I put my mask on every day and go out into the world to convince people life is great and that I’m happy to be among them, and yadda-yadda-yadda. Most of the time, I am successful and my mask hides my pain. 

My work-in-progress, one I have tentatively titled Family Reunion, deals with a young girl wearing the same pretend mask. She puts it on so no one will know how scared she is. Not her mother, or her aunt who is also her best friend, or her brother. 

Certainly not the father she adores who is an officer deployed overseas by the Navy.

Then she meets a boy and gets a glimpse inside his mask. Suddenly neither of them is quite as frightened anymore.

If that sounds like a romance—it isn’t. The girl and boy are only ten. She’s a black child whose family just moved into a predominantly white small town struggling to find acceptance in the school’s top girl clique who call themselves the Fabulous Five. She’s willing to do anything the leader wants to be invited in. He’s a White boy with hemiplegia, a lifelong condition that leaves him unable to control his left arm and leg and has him in a wheelchair. He tries to remain invisible to escape the bullying led by his own cousin, the leader of the Fabulous Five. When the two kids finally learn to see each other and remove their masks, it’s magic.

The same kind of thing can happen in the real world. Only last week I read about some police sitting down and having a heart-to-heart with a group of homeless kids. The discussion got off to a rocky start, both sides were defensive and untrusting. Then one cop admitted that his father was in jail, and the ice began to crack. Another cop angrily noted how bad the kids smell, as if he thought the stink was directed at him, or at least at law-abiding citizens. A kid explained that smelling bad was a deliberate strategy for keeping sexual predators away when you are homeless and have to sleep on the streets.

Not an act of rebellion or an attempt to push good people away. Another mask, worn for protection.

After the police absorbed that shock, a lot of honesty came out on both sides. When we look under the masks we usually find our common humanity.

I admit masks and play acting can be fun and entertaining. That’s the appeal of Phantom of the Opera (I loved Gerard Butler in the movie). It’s the joy of cosplay and the love of Halloween (my personal favorite holiday).

But sometimes we need to use masks to help us survive in a hostile world.

And, unfortunately, the way the Internet can be used to mask identity is a large part of the popularity of social media. A screen name and a phony avatar provides users with a level of anonymity, an Internet mask, that lets them call people like Leslie Jones, Serena Williams and Michelle Obama "monkeys." Masks can enable cowards to attack with impunity and write things they would never say if they knew they would be discovered.

The truth is, I have long been a stranger in a strange land. A black student in a predominantly white college - majoring in Biochemistry and Math, no less when people expected me to be in social work or nursing. I needed a mask, and to practice selective deafness as well. Then a Black woman in a field dominated by White faces. Now a Black author attending mainly White writer's conventions and living in a predominantly White neighborhood. So I have indeed perfected the art of putting on my mask every day before stepping outside my doors. But the mask has been slipping lately. Maybe because constantly pretending is infinitely tiring.  I truly admire the young people of today who feel strong enough to eschew the mask and release their true thoughts and feelings.

Mask of Wild Things

by Diana McCollum

Today I’m going to talk about nature’s masks. And boy does she have a lot of them.

It is fascinating to me how an owl’s feathers blend into the bark of a tree, for example. This is good for the owl, but not because he’s hiding from 

predators, it’s because he’s hiding from his prey so it doesn’t see him coming. Most owls except for burrowing owls are apex predators. This means the species has no known enemies.

How interesting it is that some butter flies have giant dots on the tip of their wings to make predators think twice about eating them up. When the butterfly’s wings are spread these large eyes make the butterfly appear

bigger, surprising and scaring off predators.

Even water fowl, such as ducks, have the coloring to blend into their surroundings, protecting their selves from hunters from human to hawks and eagles.

Porcupines which have an awesome defense with sharp quills covering their bodies still have a mask from nature.

Killdeer a bird that makes its nest on the ground and lays her eggs in the nest on the ground are especially hard to see unless they are moving. The mask of feathers from Mother Nature helps them blend in to their 
surroundings.

Nature’s ultimate masked creature would have to be the chameleon. This member of the lizard family has the ability to adapt to its environment. They change their color for camouflage. They will also change color when under stress, mating, and different temperatures. 

So there you have it! Nature is awesome! And isn't it amazing that these creatures Know where to live, to hide so that they blend in?

What is one of your favorite creatures who blends in to its environment?

The Mask -- Carolina Style

By Robin Weaver

In keeping with this month’s theme, I thought I’d write about my masks.  Not my psychological ones (to which you’re saying, "whew").  I’m not referring to the professional mask I wear in the office that lets me nod sympathetically when I want to say: “No. I don’t believe you’re late because the dog ate your badge.” Nor do I mean my this party’s not boring at all mask.  I’m sure you have one, too. I’ve found this mask wears better when combined with alcohol. :)

And, I’m especially not talking about my grocery store mask. The one I paste on my face to hide my aversion to food shopping—having to eat every day can be a real pain.

Instead, I’m talking about my mask collection—or what’s left of it. “Collection?” You ask.  Oh-no, you didn’t read this far because you expected to hear about a super hero fetish or some kinky stuff, did you?

One of My Imitations

Anyway, I’ve always been fascinated by the sheer beauty of Venetian masks. These identity-disguisers have always been an important feature of the Venetian carnival. There is little evidence explaining the motive for the earliest mask wearing. Most likely, a grown-up version of make-believe. The first Venetian masks were pretty simple, having very little ornamentation, and typically had a practical or symbolic purpose.  That changed. Italian masks evolved to include gold leaf, precious gems, and hand painting. No wonder since we humans have always had a fascination with “shiny objects.”

My collection included only imitations—real Venetian masks cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

The one on the right (sadly, not one in my collection) retails for $450 and it's not even an antique.

Venetian Mask--Not in My Collection

I lost interest and stopped accumulating masks, primarily because they became too easy to find. What is it about us humans that makes us value the rare above commonplace beauty—that’s a blog for another day. Over the years, I’ve collected, and stopped collecting, a lot of things: Hummels (storage became a problem), carousel figurines, unicorns (unicorn paraphernalia, not the actual animals—hey, don’t judge me.  It was the eighties).

Phantom of the Opera Mask
Decorated

I kept a few of my favorite masks--how could I not. They are exquisite.

A couple years back, I actually added to the leftover collection when I created new masks for my Phantom of the Opera themed Christmas tree.  We're talking half-mask, like the Phantom wore. Before the holidays were over, I had to take the masks off the tree—they creeped me out. :-0

Today, the remainder of my collection sits mask behind the glass in my cabinet, waiting for me to write a blog (or for some other inciting incident that makes me take notice) to be again be appreciated.

What about you? Have something beautiful sitting around your house that’s underappreciated?

Sheriff Casey Randolph tries to unmask the "real killer" in my latest thriller, Styrofoam Corpse.

He’s sworn to uphold the law.

She swears she didn’t do it. The evidence says otherwise.