The smile; universally known as a symbol of happiness. However, for women, the smile means something much different. Women are expected to have a smile plastered on their faces at all times, despite what their true emotions are. Amy Cunningham, the author of Why Women Smile has a strong belief that smiles are used to oppress women and make them appear more docile. The smile has evolved into the symbol of the simple woman: kind, motherly, and overall powerless. Women should feel comfortable to display whatever emotion they so choose, regardless of what men think will make them seem more beautiful, kind, or harmless in their eyes. No longer will there be this awful stereotype, as women regain control over their own emotions, even though the
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“Women are expected to smile no matter where they line up on the social, cultural, or economic ladder: College professors are criticized for not smiling, political spouses are pilloried for being too serious, and women’s roles in films have historically been smiling ones.” (Cunningham 4) Some may believe that telling someone they should smile will boost their mood, or that anyone---man or woman---must smile even when they do not want to because of societal norms. This is simply not true. When informing a woman she should smile, it is not a way to make a woman happy, it is a way of informing her that her real emotions are not nearly as important as the way that she appears to the strangers around her. Also, women are harassed way more than men when it comes to the emotions displayed on their faces. Every day a woman leaves her house, she risks being catcalled. This means that someone, typically a man, will make a comment on the appearance of the woman in a sexual nature. Many times, this includes harassing a woman to smile, that she will magically become more beautiful. This is offensive for many reasons; it infers that a woman not only cares about how she appears to this random stranger, but also that to become attractive, she must smile and appease the impolite hound of a man. I have personal experience with this, as I have been walking with my friends at the mall, when one of them told me terrible news. So, as I was walking, I was displaying a frown on my face. One gentleman, however, did not find this acceptable, so he decided to announce that I should “just smile sweetheart, life is great.” Not only is this not helpful in cheering up a stranger, but it is also completely demeaning to women. Regardless of where a woman is, she can easily be hounded by strangers who find it
“Women are expected to smile no matter where they line up on the social, cultural, or economic ladder: College professors are criticized for not smiling, political spouses are pilloried for being too serious, and women’s roles in films have historically been smiling ones.” (Cunningham 4) Some may believe that telling someone they should smile will boost their mood, or that anyone---man or woman---must smile even when they do not want to because of societal norms. This is simply not true. When informing a woman she should smile, it is not a way to make a woman happy, it is a way of informing her that her real emotions are not nearly as important as the way that she appears to the strangers around her. Also, women are harassed way more than men when it comes to the emotions displayed on their faces. Every day a woman leaves her house, she risks being catcalled. This means that someone, typically a man, will make a comment on the appearance of the woman in a sexual nature. Many times, this includes harassing a woman to smile, that she will magically become more beautiful. This is offensive for many reasons; it infers that a woman not only cares about how she appears to this random stranger, but also that to become attractive, she must smile and appease the impolite hound of a man. I have personal experience with this, as I have been walking with my friends at the mall, when one of them told me terrible news. So, as I was walking, I was displaying a frown on my face. One gentleman, however, did not find this acceptable, so he decided to announce that I should “just smile sweetheart, life is great.” Not only is this not helpful in cheering up a stranger, but it is also completely demeaning to women. Regardless of where a woman is, she can easily be hounded by strangers who find it