In my opinion, resting bitch face is an outdated concept that people do not realize is problematic. First of all, the expression resting bitch face, or RBF, refers to when a woman unconsciously appears to be glaring when really, they are just having a straight, relaxed face. People are always describing RBF as a bad thing. This highlights how, as a society, we’ve allowed the expectation that women must appear a certain way to the world. The idea that women must be smiling has seeped into our generation. My understanding of RBF is that we can discuss it more as a social issue, rather than an expression some women have that tends to make people uncomfortable. RBF is just a facial expression, not something that has the ability to truly make someone uneasy. I don’t think RBF itself is bad at all. But I disagree with the societal reputation it has gained.
Whenever a woman is called out for her RBF, she instantly feels like she needs to explain herself. The fact that women feel they need to clarify their facial expressions shows what kind of stigma we put around the term RBF. We live in a world that is slowly but surely becoming more accepting of the people who live in it, yet we still choose to disregard the fact that, for most women, their neutral expression is not an eye-catching smile. Women don’t need to smile to be respected. Women don’t need to display any particular facial expression in order to not be deemed a “bitch”.
I am not the only one that’s of the opinion that RBF reflects negatively on women and society. Alyson Shepherd, a ninth grader here at Westside, says, “I think it does [set up the expectation that women should always be happy] because often people think if someone has “a resting bitch face” that they are automatically mean which isn’t always the case” she said. “I do think in society’s eyes women should always be smiling.”
Another person who agrees with me on this topic is Abbey Anderson, another Westside freshman. “As a person who ‘suffers’ from resting bitch face, it’s annoying because people think that you’re scary or mad at them. I think it really affects socializing with people because if someone has RBF then a lot of people are drawn away from them. But I feel like when girls have RBF it’s really noticeable and people are constantly pointing it out. So, I feel like women are expected to smile more than men.” Said Anderson.
When it comes to RBF, I think the best thing our society can do would be to realize that there are multiple issues behind it that must be addressed. One of the most important underlying problems is that women are still required to be under the control of society, by letting other people choose what they can and cannot do. Until people are willing to talk about the normality that women must present themselves in a certain way to be socially accepted, RBF will continue to be nothing but a joke to almost everyone. But once we all see the problems behind the term, no one will be laughing.
story by Natalie Gill, photos by Darci Simmons
