Explanation of “Resting Bitch Face” (RBF) here.
It’s simply subconcious mirroring of fashion model stoicism. If that’s what a woman exposes herself to enough, it could be at least a partial explanation, even if there’s no desire to model (heh) the model’s success, beauty, attention, etc. The mirroring may also be a modern hijack of cerebral empathy centers, where people mirror other humans they may see the most as a subrational means of connecting socially or emotionally.
There’s the “Resting Asshole Face” (RAF) for men, and though male models definitely exhibit this, the cause for prole men mirroring this are probably different. Men don’t care about fashion magazines and are maybe less prone towards modelling anonymous people, and may instead be more strongly inclined to model in-flesh men.
Regardless, the codification of both RBF and RAF face are peculiar to America and some other westernized societies. In many Middle Eastern and Asian societies, one is considered a fool if you’re in public with a permanent smiling facade–RBF/RAF would be considered normal and polite.
Give me counterarguments.
4 Comments
I don’t know that I can argue with something like “subconscious mirroring”, as that would be difficult to prove or disprove. I do have my own theory–that it really has more to do with personality type than mirroring. Some people are stoic, or maintain a stoic expression while concentrating. Some people appear to be open and friendly because they are.
I think Freud is bunk, so I mean “subconscious” anachronistically, in a way. I guess I mean more “sub-rational.”
RBF/RAF seems disconnected from personality type though, because if you read about people who have it, they claim it’s not a reflection of their personality. So I think it’s different than normal facial expressions. Or not. I don’t know enough about it really.
It’s not disconnected from personality. Ir’s a reflection of focus/intense thought. What it isn’t is actual bitchiness. That’s a false interpretation of personality by fools who believe decent people must express emotion on the face at all times. They perceive bitchiness because they can’t read a stoic face.
I don’t think it’s disconnected from personality, either (I know I just said it’s disconnected…I guess I’m just explaning what I mean more), because RBF/RAF doesn’t necessarily have to be caused by personality. Most of the time I don’t think it is, but people assume it does. If someone is being stoic or frowny, some may think they’re pissed off, instead of “oh, they’re just concentrating,” or something on those lines, which is much more plausibly and common.
If you’re going to read personality through physical appearance, which I think is somewhat a legitimate process, it should probably go deeper than just facial expression.