Resting Bitch Face

I have more like 'resting nice face'. I wish I looked more unapproachable more often honestly. It's a pain. I'd rather I'm thought of as looking a bitch and be left alone or not give the wrong impression or the time. It causes so many problems honestly...I guess I need to perfect a 'resting bitch face' to make my life more bearable.

This is the only time I've seen/heard it.

My teen DD says its used about boys as much as girls. I don't mind myself. I have one. And I'm an Elizabeth Warren 'nasty woman'.

I find this very interesting because it shows the cultural assumptions made specifically with regard to women in UK/US culture; in my culture ( French) it is normal to look serious in repose, you aren't expected to go around with a smile on your face for no reason (it is seen as inane and false) or when dealing with strangers, because smiles are for interaction with a person you engage with or actually know well, so we don't get remarks from twats on the street like the ones I have seen reported in UK. That doesn't at all mean France isn't sexist, it's just differently sexist. I like that I can have my normal face in repose ( fairly 'grumpy' looking) and nobody thinks it is odd.
It also explains why visiting UK/US people often say things like "French women are snooty/ grumpy/ mean-looking" when actually we are just like anybody else, it is just our conventions of how to present ourselves to others are different.
It also explains a bit why anglo-saxon women sometimes get disportionately bothered in the street here in France because that smiling at randoms on the street actively signifies "come on boys I'm looking to pick up someone".

Amy Schumer talked about the need to appear to be smiling all the time in public on Ellen a while back. She was at the basketball and was sitting beside Deanna Agron from Glee and she kept a permanent smile on her face, constantly poised because she knew people would be taking photos of her at any time. I'd imagine Kate Middleton does it for the same reason. I personally could not be arsed, and neither could Amy Schumer, who got hammered at the basketball and basically didn't give a toss.

Do men get called out for looking like a miserable bastard, or actually being a miserable bastard? The point of the expression about resting bitch face is that it's about how your face looks (normal, is how I would describe it) as opposed to what you are.

I call my dp a little bitch all the time

I remember the Bitchy Resting Face video. It was brilliant. And IIRC featured both women and men. The word "bitch" as both noun and verb is increasingly unisex.

I regard BRF as a unisex thing that is different to thug as thug implies physically violent.

Bitch is just not a word used to describe men.

I've always seen it more as a defense against 'smile luv' type comments, than a perjorative term. I've only ever heard women use it about themselves e.g. 'Men telling me to smile can fuck off; I've got resting bitch face'. I've never heard a man use it in any context.

I think RBF can apply to both sexes, my DH has a fantastic RBF and also has the ability to look really deep in thought and intense at times when he's actually completely away with the fairies, not a thing on his mind at all. There should be a name for that!

I have never heard it used about a man. But hey, if it was, once, somewhere, that means it isn't perjorative about women, doesn't it it? Phew.

I don't think that's a resting bitch face William's got, by the way. I think it's a resting guinea pig face.

In this photo, William's defaulted to RBF, but she hasn't!

I always think of Kate Middleton when I see this phrase.

If you look at photos of her at public events these days, she is always smiling and looking so happy to be there.

Her face is never 'at rest'.

She's clearly been coached to never let her face fall into repose, precisely because her natural resting face falls into a slight frown, making her look unhappy, disapproving, bored, whatever.

I mean this is normal - it's how most of is look when we're going about our business, not really concentrating.

I've really started to notice it.

She always looks smiley, camera-ready, happy to be there.

It must take SUCH an effort!

I think it's a great expression , and describes the look perfectly. Don't care if it's not used on men really, I might say face like a bag of spanners maybe but wouldn't use that for a woman ....

Me too, Shotgun. I've definitely become more reconciled to my RBF as I've got older!

And in answer to theOP: if it's being used in a derogatory way then those users have misunderstood the original meaning, I think.
As someone said, it was originally used as a way of satirizing the expectation on women to be constantly smiley and fluffy - although I agree the term bitch is unfortunate and enables the irony to be too easily lost in some quarters!

I agree Letitia. Having been saddled with RBS and having spent most of my teens and twenties being horribly self-conscious and consciously trying to look perky all the time, it was such a relief when I decided years ago that it's not me, it's them.

Objectively, there is no denying that some people, when their faces are in repose, and not animated in conversation or interaction, exude 'pleasant disposition' and others do not!

I think I am one of the latter, (I put it down to an indelible frown line just above my nose!) and have always felt that people I don't know, often can't 'read' that I'm actually quite amenable! That's what I've always understood by 'resting bitch face' - not really anything to do with not constantly smiling.

carmenta - men don't get "called out" for having RBF, but they do get called miserable bastards.

The same expressions exist in both men and women. Women are said to have RBF, men are said to be miserable bastards. The OP asked what the male equivalent to RBF is - I say it's "miserable bastard".

Optimistic - that sounds like it was a loaded question if that's how it was phrased. Think about it - RBF is specifically female so of course people are going to see it more in female faces. If they'd been asked who's expression "looks like a thug" or "miserable bastard", there's a good chance the findings would be the opposite.

Of course if they'd just been asked "who looks miserable" that's fairly generic.

Makes me think of the study where 2 sets of people were shown the same film of a car crash. One set was asked if the saw a broken headlight and the majority said no. The other set were asked if they saw the broken headlight and the majority said yes. In fact there was no broken headlight.

I first knew the phrase as bitchy resting face. Surely that describes it better?

I do often find people who contort their resting faces into a smile to be rather inane. It seems to be somewhat seeking atrention. That said, I am probably generalusing based on a few people I know.

X-post Optimistic

Resting bitch face is definitely pejorative against women. According to this study it's just as common in men but men don't get called on it. Presumably because they're allowed to be grumpy, rather than decoratively sunshiney like women are supposed to be.

Wasn't there a study done into resting bitch face fairly recently?

It showed (IIRC) that the average person is more likely to notice a serious/non-smiley expression on a woman than a man. They used computer mapping to compare faces and show whether they presented any of the signs usually associated with RBF, and then asked people to identify which faces had RBF. The women were selected far more often than the men which had the same or similar scores from the computer mapping.

I only read a brief article on it so have no idea how reliable it was though...

I think "thug" is no more or less a stereotype than "having RBF" it's a look that people attribute certain characteristics. So I still think "thug" is the male equivalent.

Rethinking, I guess "thug" is the male equivalent of "nasty bitch" and the male equivalent of "resting bitch face" is "looks like a thug" or just plain old simple "miserable bastard".