What can I do about my resting bitch face?

“Resting bitch face” is a petty twitter fight term. It means nothing in the real world.

You are friendly. Be friendly. Smile and people smile at you.

We all have tough times when we can’t smile and our friends understand.

If you think you seem to scare people away and family and friends say you have a face that looks like you want to murder then you may want reconsider what they see in you that you do not.

Let me guess… Wherever you go, and whatever you’re doing, complete strangers tell you to “Smile!” My sister-in-law has RBF (well, she’s a B through-and-through, but that’s a whole other matter), and this happens to her almost every day. I usually look happy and friendly, so nobody’s ever said that to me (actually, those same, complete strangers often make eye contact and nod or smile).

Have you tried the semi-smile? Think of something pleasant or enjoyable, and your face will likely look pleasant and approachable. You don’t want to walk around with an ear-to-ear grin – that would be creepy – but you might enjoy having a neutral expression that isn’t off-putting.

Make eye contact with people and smile. That’s all it takes. I do it all the time. You’ll find people respond warmly.

For what it’s worth, I think resting bitch face is a myth. But if you have it… who cares!

You shouldn’t be required to keep a fake, pleasant expression for other people’s benefit. Women are always encouraged to be friendly and conciliatory. Telling someone that there is something wrong with their face is so damaging. Especially when multiple people are in on it.

You could just have trouble getting to know people because you’re shy. Maybe being told again and again that you look “mean” and off-putting has made it worse. That kind of thing would make anyone doubt themselves, especially if you hear it from a number of people. I think it’s much more likely that you’re surrounded by a bunch of critical busybodies who have said hurtful things that damaged your self esteem.

Keep your chin up (figuratively, not literally), and just keep being nice to people and being yourself. Getting to know people is hard for almost everyone. If you want to get more comfortable talking to people, you could take a debate class or a job or volunteer position dealing with the general public. Your face is soooooo not the problem, I bet it’s as beautiful as your personality. :)

I was going to say the same thing @Haleth did, but they beat me to it. There’s no reason you should have to walk around looking like you’re happy all the time. No one is happy all the time. If you genuinely feel happy, or if something makes you want to smile, do it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it.

Get a t shirt which says, “I’m HAPPY! Not my fault the botox froze my face.”

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