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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Violet Affleck and mask mandates

335 replies

aold · 24/09/2025 09:44

AIBU think that this shouldn’t be encouraged? Violet Affleck advocating for mask mandates. Daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck. Speaking about the importance of masks. Says we should still be wearing them to curb the spread of Covid 19.
Shouldn’t a young privileged woman be enjoying her youth? Is there a reason for fit healthy people like her to still walk around in masks?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15127909/violet-affleck-mask-mandates-long-covid-ben-jennifer-garner.html

OP posts:
aold · 24/09/2025 10:01

Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 09:57

Never heard of scholarships? Poor people get to go to Yale too.
Yes her parents are rich but you've got to be very smart to go there.

yes, poor people have just as much chance at getting into Yale/Harvard/MIT/Cambridge as rich people. Where’s the laugh emoji?

OP posts:
GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 10:05

aold · 24/09/2025 10:00

I can’t take you seriously at all if you’re actually comparing mask wearing to seat belt wearing ffs

Uh-huh. I highlighted your blatant and dishonest straw-manning and so you're now pivoting to quibbling about the example I used. Straight out of the play-book.

aold · 24/09/2025 10:07

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 10:05

Uh-huh. I highlighted your blatant and dishonest straw-manning and so you're now pivoting to quibbling about the example I used. Straight out of the play-book.

you’re not making any sense whatsoever.

OP posts:
GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 10:08

aold · 24/09/2025 10:07

you’re not making any sense whatsoever.

Would it help if I used shorter words?

aold · 24/09/2025 10:09

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 10:08

Would it help if I used shorter words?

anything relevant, useful or pertinent to add, other than ad hominem attacks?

OP posts:
ColourThief · 24/09/2025 10:13

aold · 24/09/2025 09:44

AIBU think that this shouldn’t be encouraged? Violet Affleck advocating for mask mandates. Daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck. Speaking about the importance of masks. Says we should still be wearing them to curb the spread of Covid 19.
Shouldn’t a young privileged woman be enjoying her youth? Is there a reason for fit healthy people like her to still walk around in masks?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15127909/violet-affleck-mask-mandates-long-covid-ben-jennifer-garner.html

Daily Mail links.
Oh dear.

Read some actual news, not just rage bait.
Top tip, try a proper paper.

RafaistheKingofClay · 24/09/2025 10:16

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 09:56

Ah, I knew it wouldn't take long before the bullshit really started.

No, masks don't filter out ALL pollutants, airborne viruses etc. No-one claims they do but it's a strangely common strawman put up by disingenuous people such as yourself. Almost like you're following a script.

What a mask does is reduce the risks. Not eliminate, but reduce. In the same way that a seatbelt doesn't eliminate the risk of injury in a car accident but it does reduce it.

Honestly there is literally no point in trying to educate people here on the risks of covid or the facts about what masks do and don’t filter. I’d give up it’s a losing battle.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:16

MyAcornWood · 24/09/2025 09:49

She’s not hurting anyone, and I can’t see how this stops her enjoying her life, but the preachy nature of it all is a bit annoying. On an unrelated note, doesn’t she look like her mum?!

Well she potentially wants to take away the rights of others through compulsory mask wearing. So I’m not sure we can say she’s not hurting anyone. If someone mandated compulsory mask wearing indoors then my life would immediately be impacted negatively.

Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 10:18

aold · 24/09/2025 10:01

yes, poor people have just as much chance at getting into Yale/Harvard/MIT/Cambridge as rich people. Where’s the laugh emoji?

It's intelligence that gets you in - not money.
You could be from the richest family in the world but if you don't have the intelligence you don't get in.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:19

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 09:56

Ah, I knew it wouldn't take long before the bullshit really started.

No, masks don't filter out ALL pollutants, airborne viruses etc. No-one claims they do but it's a strangely common strawman put up by disingenuous people such as yourself. Almost like you're following a script.

What a mask does is reduce the risks. Not eliminate, but reduce. In the same way that a seatbelt doesn't eliminate the risk of injury in a car accident but it does reduce it.

Comparing a mask to a seatbelt in terms of safety is not an equivalence when one is hardly an inconvenience and the other is literally smothering your face with material for extended time.

bridgetreilly · 24/09/2025 10:20

Literally just a thread hating on someone because of her parents? Wow.

aold · 24/09/2025 10:20

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:16

Well she potentially wants to take away the rights of others through compulsory mask wearing. So I’m not sure we can say she’s not hurting anyone. If someone mandated compulsory mask wearing indoors then my life would immediately be impacted negatively.

mine too. I know she’s mentioned a post viral illness which she says she’s now fully recovered from, but that’s true of many of us. I have a chronic long term condition which I take medication for, for life and Covid did knock me out. I caught it the first time in 2021, when wearing a mask all the time outside and in public spaces. Unlike my neighbour, who is still isolating from Covid and has now developed debilitating agoraphobia as a result of it, I’m determined to live my life.

OP posts:
EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:20

Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 10:18

It's intelligence that gets you in - not money.
You could be from the richest family in the world but if you don't have the intelligence you don't get in.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/feb/05/desperate-housewives-felicity-huffman-comeback-jail-hir

slashlover · 24/09/2025 10:21

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:19

Comparing a mask to a seatbelt in terms of safety is not an equivalence when one is hardly an inconvenience and the other is literally smothering your face with material for extended time.

Have you seen the videos from when the law about seatbelts came in? People saying it was too inconvenient and they shouldn't be forced to wear one. If a mask is literally smothering your face then you're wearing it incorrectly.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:21

bridgetreilly · 24/09/2025 10:20

Literally just a thread hating on someone because of her parents? Wow.

Literally a thread discussing the thought of mandated mask use. Wow.

aold · 24/09/2025 10:22

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:19

Comparing a mask to a seatbelt in terms of safety is not an equivalence when one is hardly an inconvenience and the other is literally smothering your face with material for extended time.

exactly. And I can remember the gleeful posts on my local community facebook page during the pandemic when posters would call out people for going to Asda without a face mask on. When they explained that it was because they had severe anxiety or asthma, they were shot down. It hasn’t aged well.

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 10:23

Yeah years ago and they went to prison for that.
I assume any other parents realise now it was a dumb thing to do.

ozarina · 24/09/2025 10:24

If she didn't have famous parents they would be seeking some mental health support for her.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:25

slashlover · 24/09/2025 10:21

Have you seen the videos from when the law about seatbelts came in? People saying it was too inconvenient and they shouldn't be forced to wear one. If a mask is literally smothering your face then you're wearing it incorrectly.

when seatbelts were first brought in they were clunky unadjustable things which were easy to dislike. I remember the day the law changed. We all hated them. Now they are hardly noticeable to wear as technological advancements have made it possible to adjust them sufficiently to fit the body.

If you are happy for me to wear my mask across my body in the same style to a seatbelt I have no problem with it at all.

Chaosclassic · 24/09/2025 10:27

GasperyJacquesRoberts · 24/09/2025 09:56

Ah, I knew it wouldn't take long before the bullshit really started.

No, masks don't filter out ALL pollutants, airborne viruses etc. No-one claims they do but it's a strangely common strawman put up by disingenuous people such as yourself. Almost like you're following a script.

What a mask does is reduce the risks. Not eliminate, but reduce. In the same way that a seatbelt doesn't eliminate the risk of injury in a car accident but it does reduce it.

Not really. It only works if you have an endless supply of clean high quality masks. Who’s paying for that?

And besides I have a new born and a 3 year old. Facial expressions and talking are much more important to the peaceful continuation of the human race.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 24/09/2025 10:27

Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 10:23

Yeah years ago and they went to prison for that.
I assume any other parents realise now it was a dumb thing to do.

Oh God sorry. That’s was YEARS ago 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. 2017 - three years before Covid was publicised. It’s almost as though 2020 was also a long time ago and most of us have moved on from Covid. Not all though.

saynotofondant · 24/09/2025 10:29

Masks aren’t without harm. My six year old sees a speech therapist, as do many in his class (those than can afford private sessions that is). His speech therapist says she’s never seen a cohort like his - she puts the amount of speech problems and their type down to them not seeing people’s mouths moving during speech.

Violet Affleck is of course entitled to wear a mask if she likes, and to encourage others to do so, and to raise awareness of their importance. Mandating their use is just nuts though. Her speech at the UN was garbled and rushed, so I doubt she was chosen for her public speaking skills.

I was also thinking MH problems or - I know this is so trite to say and I always roll my eyes when others suggest it out of nowhere - but possibly autism.

Nimbus3000 · 24/09/2025 10:31

Are there people out there who seriously think the entire global population should be wearing masks in enclosed public spaces at all times?

I'm sorry I haven read the article as I don't want to accept forced cookies so I may have got this wrong. I live in a major city, work with vulnerable people and I just can't imagine there are people out there who think we should still be living under peak pandemic conditions.

User14March · 24/09/2025 10:32

Needmorelego · 24/09/2025 10:23

Yeah years ago and they went to prison for that.
I assume any other parents realise now it was a dumb thing to do.

They now are much smarter about it & play within the rules but some completely game the system. The very dedicated Tiger Mom/Mum types at least.

slashlover · 24/09/2025 10:33

Chaosclassic · 24/09/2025 10:27

Not really. It only works if you have an endless supply of clean high quality masks. Who’s paying for that?

And besides I have a new born and a 3 year old. Facial expressions and talking are much more important to the peaceful continuation of the human race.

You know that nobody is forcing you to wear a mask at home?