BITCHY RESTING FACE is a phenomenon that’s talked about a lot in relation to women. For those of you unfamiliar, bitchy resting face (BRF) is used to describe women when they look sad or angry for no particular reason when their face isn’t doing anything else.
Plastic surgeon Dr Anthony Youn told the Today show that it’s sometimes because brows decrease or are a little low.
All these things can add up together to make us look grumpy, mean, and even, yes, bitchy when we don’t mean it.
Youtubers Broken People brought the phrase to popularity back in 2013 with their Bitchy Resting Face PSA.
While Vice reports on a study that suggest that people are less likely to trust women with BRF, recent studies say that having the ‘condition’ is actually beneficial.
Quartz published an article by Texas Women’s University researcher and consultant Rene Paulson argues that women with RBF actually end up as better communicators, as they can’t expect their expression to do the talking.
She says:
Women confronted by a world that automatically attaches negative attributes to their non-smiling face must quickly learn how to communicate and also hone a finely-tuned awareness of both our own emotions and the emotions of those around us.
Women used to being constantly misunderstood focus more on the words someone says, rather than their tone, body cues, or facial expressions, ensuring a more effective flow of information between both parties.
So now. Down with the BRF discrimination.
