The Serious Selfie: A Societal Misconception

Like a lot of people, I used to hate pictures of myself back in the olden days when you’d have to fill up your roll of 35 mm film with pictures taken by someone else and then pay to have them developed at the CVS, having no idea what they look like. I was rarely happy with the outcome. Then I got my first iPhone and fell in love with selfies. I could suddenly do several takes of a picture and choose the best one instantly! It was a whole new world of picture-taking for an old school lady like myself.

In the advent of social media, however, I also discovered that people like to be rude assholes if you’re not wearing a huge fake grin in every picture, and that makes me angry beyond belief. They comment “You look so sad/angry/whatever. Smile!” I’m so fucking sorry that you don’t like the way my face looks naturally but fuck off! I wasn’t angry before, but now I sure as hell am!

Some people call it Resting Bitch Face, which is also a bit insulting and misogynistic because it implies that any woman who walks around without a permanent fake grin on her face is a bitch. Heaven forbid a woman have a serious personality! My face just doesn’t work that way. Sorry not sorry. This is what I feel like when I try to put on a big smile to appease a bunch of assholes who should just accept my face the way it is:

For the record, I am very happy in my marriage and my career. I have nothing to be sad about except the frightening state of our country, and I’ll do my part to attempt to make it better come Election Day. When you see a picture of me and I’m not grinning like an idiot, that’s just me being my serious low-key self. Please don’t make bitchy comments. If you don’t like the way my face looks, keep it to yourself. If you DO see a picture of me grinning like an idiot, you can be 100% sure that I’m drunk.

This has been a PSA about respecting people’s individual facial expressions. Thank you.