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By David Futrelle
So the latest trend in plastic surgery. according to the New York Post, is women giving their so-called Resting Bitch Faces a little surgical pick-me up, turning their frowns upside down with the help of strategically placed Botox and fillers.
Apparently some women feel such pressure to keep a smile on their face — even, or perhaps especially, when they’re in uncomfortable situations — that they want their lips permanently fixed into what one patient described to the Post as not a “Joker smile” but a “pleasant resting look.”
Weird that there’s no similar pressure on men to get rid of their Resting Jerk Faces.
In any case, plastic surgeons interviewed by the Post said there’s been a big uptick in requests for the anti-bitch-face procedure in recent years.
“This is actually a common request from patients — I get several each week,” says Dr. David Shafer, a double board-certified plastic surgeon and medical director of Shafer Plastic Surgery & Laser Center in Midtown. ….
The procedure takes about 10 to 20 minutes, costs between $500-5,000, with top docs, depending on the number of shots. It typically lasts up to two years.
Although the term [Resting Bitch Face] entered the cultural lexicon about six years ago, requests for the procedure “more than doubled” over the last year, says Shafer. …
“The worse the ‘bitch face,’ the more effective the Botox,” says Shafer. “If you always look dumpy, or unfriendly … people are going to react to you differently.”
The procedure works, the Post says, by injecting “hyaluronic acid dermal fillers” into specific areas around the mouth and “underneath [patients’] lips to plump and re-angle their mouths.” Botox is also used in some cases.
Don’t anyone tell the MGTOWs about this. They’ll denounce it as a new form of female deception even worse than makeup.
Try sixteen years ago. At least.
This is so sad.
Yeah, I’ve known about it for a long time. I wish there was a cure…
The whole idea of Botox is a little unsettling to me. Just the idea of injecting something really toxic into my face.
Huh. I would never do that. I like my RBF. It’s how my face is, people can deal with it.
I had to google to find images of RBF because while I have heard the term I was never able to actually visualize it. People are concerned about this?
My dad mentioned how odd it was that every important pundit in the news had a permanent frown.
When I was a kid.
I’m middle aged.
That’s kind of sad (not in the Donald Trump sense of the word). Elective surgeries are expensive, plus there’s the recovery time.
@numerobis – I guess because a lot of wrinkles show up between the eyes and around the mouth. So far I just have wrinkles under my eyes – the ones on my forehead aren’t permanent yet – but somehow I have a “resting confused/slightly anxious face.”
Which is…kind of accurate for me? 😛
I’ve found that my resting bitch face is improved by reading WHTM. Including the comments.
Of course, it does sometimes result in active bitch face, but whatevs.
Another thought in reply to @numerobis (the last comment isn’t showing up yet): people doing the news-pundit thing are expected to look serious. So frowny would be a kind of default mode.
…
By the way, did anyone else hear about the photo that surfaced with Justin Trudeau in brownface for an “Arabian nights” costume? I don’t mean brownface metaphorically, he really did use make-up to make his face darker, which has a bad history even if he didn’t mean to be offensive. This was years ago when he was a teacher, not a prime minister, but shouldn’t teachers know better?
Sure, the Conservatives are going to make noises about this since it’s a Liberal doing it, like they did with the SNC-Lavalin scandal (in that case Trudeau covered stuff up and, IMO, treated MP Wilson-Raybauld badly, but it was grating to hear the Conservatives pretend they were being so very virtuous by amplifying to the voice of an Indigenous woman, like that was their reason).
(excuse my run-on sentences and temporary Canada-centricity)
Well, the “resting bitch face” syndrome goes hand in hand with the “you’d be so pretty if you smiled more” or the “smile–it couldn’t be that bad” horse hockey women are subjected to regularly.
Word to these doofuses: when I smile is when I’m at my most lethally sarcastic so be thankful for my RBF.
I forgot who said “My bitch face isn’t resting. It’s active as fuck.” But, same. My bitch face is not going anywhere!
Sounds like a bunch of advertising BS.
There’s some kind of skin cream (s) advertising this –
“acid” also.
We’re rolling our (probably baggy) eyes here.
And with the popularity of Grumpy Cat, who wouldn’t want such a face?
Also most people are not rolling in money. There are face and neck exercises to be done. Most people have probably seen these things, and if not, you might go looking for sim. Not to mention all sorts of OTC “skin tightening” potions.
I look a bit frowny today. Uh oh, I might have RBF!
CARVE ME UP, DOC!
What a load of *double board certified!*
BULL SHIT.
OT, but fascinating, and I know there are several language geeks around here:
https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-english-so-weirdly-different-from-other-languages
My wife’s whole family is like this- her, her sister, two brothers. I often solicitously inquire “what’s wrong?”, only to be returned a look of surprise and the answer “nothing”. Their mouths just naturally turn down when at rest. (Me and my family are noted for cute button noses, which some unkind people have likened to squashed potatoes.)
I had a load of dental work done yesterday, with extra doses of local anesthetic. More or less paralysed the bottom left quadrant fo my face for a few hours, and weirdly made it look a little like I was smiling on that side. So now I’m wondering if my RBF is actually R at all.
@Z&T
Nope, its a real thing. And a real acid, too. Probably nothing special when used as a skin cream (compared to any other moisturizer), but it is used as a filler in cosmetic surgery.
Wikipedia link.
I don’t naturally have RBF. I guess my resting expression is open and approachable and apparently also geographically knowledgeable (???). I’m asked for directions almost every single day of my life. Not yesterday, when I was in a vile, stressy mood all day (work stuff).
Joke’s on the world though – I have a terrible sense of direction.
\
When people ask me to smile I bare my teeth at them. If people get more annoying about it I’ll throw in a growl or hiss as well.
And from what I can tell I have resting blank face. If I’m not wearing glasses it’s unfocused resting blank face. Can’t see far beyond the tip of my nose without corrective lenses.
@Pie:
Even resting muscles have a base tone. Anesthetic gets rid of that.* To get a somewhat accurate picture of what your face looks like at rest have someone take a picture of you while you are sleeping.
*As does unconsciousness. That’s why we need the rescue position.
@galanx
lol I have had similar experiences from the other end. I legit had to tell someone once, “I’m not angry, my face just looks like that.”
If this surgeon is hoping to drum up more business his expert application of the word “dumpy” is a evil masterstroke – “not only do you have RBF, you’re kinda plain and uninspiring too!” Most people must leave his office planning to spend a few thousand more than they intended when they entered.
I admit I get suspicious every time a news outlet claims something is “a trend” — so often it just seems like anecdata.
Article about this here:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/commentisfree/2019/sep/18/women-looking-unapproachable-could-be-your-greatest-asset
Like honestly I love my RBF. I wouldn’t mind getting plastic surgery to keep it.
Honestly, I wish I had a RBF!
I have a facial twitch that makes me smile when I’m nervous and I can’t control it. I wish I had a RBF, that’s so badass!
The best way to get rid of wrinkles is to fill them up from the inside.
By having a decent amount of body fat, that is.
Being fat and gender non conforming is also a good way to keep dudes away.
There are plenty of people who are only clued in that I’m not a cis man when I open my mouth and speak. My HH-cup tits are apparently not obvious enough…