To think people look serious and sad when they smile with their mouths closed?

[dylexihelp]

Pretty sure this is generational as a I grew up as part of Gen X and no one was self conscious about teeth.

But my DD's generation, they all do these sad, close mouthed smiles that makes it look like they aren't ever actually enjoying themselves.

Does anyone else feel like no teeth smiling makes people look sad?

I was going to vote YABU but after reading I think I know what 'smile' you mean 😂
It's not a smile as someone else said it's more of a pose. I personally think it's became a pose they like to enhance their cheekbones/lips for photos. It looks like a smug, unimpressed expression almost? I could be way off with what you mean but it's probably a trend that won't be around forever. If it makes them happy.

I do think the actor and actress in the photos above look happy though, natural smile. Smiling with/without teeth showing is the same to me. A lot of the smile shows in the eyes I think.

I smile with my mouth closed, always have, and people call me a clown!
But it's the only way I feel natural when I smile. I tried smiling with my teeth ( you know like Sheldon does in one of the episodes of TBBT when his friends ask him to smile?) but I look odd and weird and it doesn't feel natural at all! ( and no it has nothing to do with me being self concious with my teeth, i just look weird if i smile with my teeth[

I think it's due to cultural and societal norms. I'm from a country with a cold climate and I moved to the South of France and then the South of Spain ( Andalousia[ and most people around here smile with their teeth, so it as a cultural shock for me, so I came to the conclusion that people from hot climates tend to smile with their mouth open and with their teeth whereas people like me from cold climates tend to smile with our mouth closed

Tbh I personnaly think some people who smile with their mouth open showing their teeth look fake and sometimes you cant tell the difference if they're laughing or smiling!

So I think a genuine smile is when you smile with your mouth closed. When you laugh that's when you should show your teeth imo