Who Gets to Be Angry? (Men) Who Has to Smile? (Women): Feminists keep asking, because they don’t understand facial anatomy and makeup.

This post is prompted by Roxane Gay’s essay, “Who Gets to Be Angry?” in today’s New York Times.

An important part of the answer is facial anatomy. On the average, women’s eyebrows are higher above the eyes than men’s eyebrows. And since the facial expression of anger involves lowering the eyebrows, the facial expression of anger looks more natural on men.

Not only are women’s eyebrows, on average, higher, but many women tweeze the lower edge of their eyebrows to make them look even higher than they are naturally. That is, women, who naturally look less angry, groom themselves to exaggerate this small natural difference.

There is also a sexual difference in facial features relative to smiling. On average, women have more plumpness in the part of the cheek that plumps up when a person smiles: which is, in effect, a built-in smile. And women exaggerate this anatomical difference when they use makeup to enhance or mimic “high cheekbones.”

Of course, the subject of anger is more complicated than facial anatomy. Another issue is the distinction between the emotions of anger and outrage. Both emotions indicate that the person does not like something, but the facial expression of anger has lowered eyebrows, while the facial expression of outrage has raised eyebrows.

I thought this subject might be of interest to writers in regard to their description of characters and their character’s emotions.

Is facial anatomy destiny? It is, as long as women choose to use makeup to exaggerate these natural differences, which they probably will continue to do, because it makes them more attractive.