It may not be limited to women, but it’s overwhelmingly women who hear it.
I’m 42 and I’ve been hearing “you would look so much prettier if you smiled more” since I was a veryyoung teen, often by men old enough to be my grandfather. I used to comply, now I give them the middle finger because I don’t owe anyone a smile.
I have never been told to smile in public, and I was unable to smile during the three or so decades I lived as a man. Its not a thing they tell to men. We are expected to smile and be pretty; they aren’t.
It may not be limited to women, but it’s overwhelmingly women who hear it.
I’m 42 and I’ve been hearing “you would look so much prettier if you smiled more” since I was a very young teen, often by men old enough to be my grandfather. I used to comply, now I give them the middle finger because I don’t owe anyone a smile.
I have never been told to smile in public, and I was unable to smile during the three or so decades I lived as a man. Its not a thing they tell to men. We are expected to smile and be pretty; they aren’t.