Recently, it has become a sort of ‘trendy’ thing to consider yourself as having a resting bitch face. And if you’ve never heard of this term before I'll break it down briefly: it is basically the face you make when you are not engaged with anything, staring blankly into space and have nothing entertaining you. So… yeah, of course, you will look uninterested. Because nothing is interesting you at that particular moment.
As you can see, the term itself is kind of nonsense. And, to me, the trendiness of it is too. I have an idea:
Let’s start being nice to each other again.
I get it, it’s hard to be conscious of how your facial expressions are being received by other people. It may even seem ridiculous to care about something like that. But instead of priding yourself on your hilarious bitchy demeanor, why don’t you try to simply smile at 3 strangers a day, give or take. I know, this sounds cheesy – but I'm being serious. it not only makes their world a happier place for coming across a stranger who is smiling, but it will make your day a little brighter, too.
Another thing, smiling for no reason actually makes you happy. Try it!
Smiling Is socially contagious. Your happiness will bring others happiness whose happiness will then bring others happiness… and so on. Anyways, you get the point.
It makes sense to be guarded and want to shield your emotions from the everyday passerby on the street. By no means am I asking you to smile and speak to every person you see, but a simple acknowledging smile when you walk past someone can make more of a difference then you know. A bitchy face has a time and a place. And trust me when I say I am all for perfecting that perfect passive aggressive 'bitchy' look. Us women have to know how to really own the word bitch, am I right ladies?
Smiling is just one way to break your resting bitch face habit. When you sit in class waiting for your professor to begin lecturing, strike up a conversation with someone sitting next to or across from you. 1) there are people all around you every day and you are bound to meet someone who has the same interests as you and 2) you may need someone in class to collaborate notes with down the line -- this is pretty much a win-win situation.
I am all for funny Internet trends, but let’s leave resting bitch face in 2016. Let’s have the trend for 2017 be always smiling face. Okay, I’m kidding. I’m not that cheesy. But optimism really does go far, people.
And this isn't directed only towards girls who identify as having a bitch face, and by no means is this an attack. I just think our divided, chaotic world could benefit from a little bit more friendliness and glorifying a 'bitch face' doesn't do that.
If you’re waiting for someone to come along and make your new year a brighter and happier one, you will be waiting for a very long time because that is something only you yourself can do. Go out into the world and make it a better place, every single day. And that doesn’t call for as much effort as it seems -- all it takes is a simple smile.
Sheetal Tadiparty
Flickr Creative Commons
