I am a surgeon. Since all personnel involved in surgery must wear masks, I have been familiar with masks since before the COVID-19 era. During my residency in plastic surgery, I spent almost all day in the operating room. While I often saw my physician colleagues even outside the operating room, whom I knew by their original faces, the situation was different for the operating room nurses. I saw them every day, but always with masks on.
However, every month, when the residents' affiliations changed, we held a sort of farewell gathering called 'farewell dinner.' Typically, most of the doctors and nurses with whom I had worked in the operating room would attend. It was during these gatherings that we would see each other's bare faces for the first time, and it often came as a surprise. This was because the impression we had from just seeing each other's eyes was significantly different from seeing the whole face for the first time.
Have you heard the term 'maskhole'?
'Maskhole' is a newly coined term that emerged during the COVID-19 situation, combining 'mask' and 'asshole.' It describes situations where, upon removing the mask, the face looks completely different from what was imagined while wearing the mask, leading to a feeling akin to being deceived.
Why do 'maskholes' arise?
There have been interesting studies recently addressing this question. The change in perception of masks seems to be key, with most analyses attributing it to the overwhelmingly positive change in perception of masks due to COVID-19. Whereas masks used to symbolize disease and were images to be avoided, after COVID-19, masks became symbols of medical personnel and disease prevention, transforming into images that were helpful to oneself. The positive change in perception of wearing masks would naturally occur, and this may have had some influence on the emergence of 'maskholes.'
Another theory is that our brains may think the parts covered by the mask are pretty. However, this is more of a speculation without precise evidence or sources. Our brains are not particularly generous when it comes to beauty and do not automatically perceive unseen parts as attractive.
From the above examination, it seems insufficient to explain the reason for the emergence of 'maskholes' based solely on changes in perception of masks.
the source : Google
Let me discuss the reasons for the emergence of "maskholes" from the perspective of a facial shape expert.
Firstly, when wearing a mask, only the eyes are typically visible, along with a bit of the bridge of the nose and forehead, and part of the cheeks. Ultimately, we can say that when wearing a mask, the eyes largely determine one's appearance.
Then, the parts covered by the mask are mostly the lower part of the nose, the lips including the mouth, the entire jawline, and part of the cheeks. There are far more parts covered by the mask than those visible.
Let's exclude the unfounded speculation that our brains expect the hidden parts to be attractive. A more rational approach is to think that when we see a masked face, we primarily focus on the eyes and anticipate the appearance of the covered parts based on the attractiveness of the eyes. If the eyes are attractive, we would expect the covered parts to be attractive as well, and vice versa.
Consequently, it's a reasonable judgment that the level of attractiveness of the visible eyes is often higher than that of the covered parts, leading to a significant difference in some cases, which we term as "maskholes."
Now, let's dissect why the level of attractiveness of the covered parts is generally lower than that of the eyes.
Firstly, let's consider the overall jawline. In Korea, the average facial shape tends to be wide and plain, making it uncommon to have a slim and beautiful jawline.
Secondly, let's examine the lips, including the mouth. The factors determining the attractiveness of lips are very complex. To have an attractive mouth, the lips should have a clear outline with a moderate thickness and width, and there should be a difference in height between the upper and lower lips based on the position of the upper and lower jaws. Meeting all these conditions is very difficult.
Thirdly, let's look at the nose shape. As you may know, Korean noses are often blunt and low, so having a three-dimensional, well-shaped nose is also uncommon.
Fourthly, let's consider the area of the cheeks. In Korea, protruding cheeks are common, so having a slim and smooth cheek area is also not very common.
In conclusion, because the other facial features besides the eyes are less likely to be aesthetically pleasing, analyzing people's faces generally leads to the conclusion that the attractiveness of the eyes is often better than the average of the entire face excluding the eyes.
Another important factor to consider is the effect of makeup. The eyes are the part of the face that can be enhanced the most with makeup, so often the appearance after makeup looks much more attractive than the actual appearance of the eyes.
With the lifting of COVID-19 social distancing measures nowadays, there is active discussion about when masks should be removed. It seems that the day to remove the masks that we have been wearing for over two years is not far off. At the same time, the day is approaching when the jawline, lips, and nose, which have been covered by masks, will be fully exposed.
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