Resting bitch face, also known as RBF, or bitchy resting face (BRF), is a

facial expression A facial expression is one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. According to one set of controversial theories, these movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are ...

that unintentionally appears like a person is angry, annoyed, irritated, or contemptuous, particularly when the individual is relaxed, resting, or not expressing any particular emotion. The concept has been studied by psychologists and may have psychological implications related to facial

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...

es,

gender stereotypes A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

, human judgement and decision-making. The concept has also been studied by scientists with

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

. Using a type of

facial recognition system A facial recognition system is a technology capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces. Such a system is typically employed to authenticate users through ID verification services, and ...

, they found that the phenomenon is real and the condition is as common in males as in females, despite the gendered word '' bitch'' that is used to name the concept.

History

In a 2013 year-end round-up of newly popular words and phrases, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' writer Grant Barrett asserted that the phrase dates back "at least ten years". On May 22, 2013, the comedy group Broken People uploaded a parody

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

video titled "Bitchy Resting Face" (BRF) on the

Funny or Die Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a re ...

website in which male and female "sufferers" of an annoyed-looking

blank expression A blank expression is a facial expression characterized by neutral positioning of the facial features, implying a lack of strong emotion. It may be caused by a lack of emotion, depression, boredom or slight confusion, such as when a listener ...

ask for understanding from non-sufferers. The video features comedian

Milana Vayntrub Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub ( , Russian: ; born March 8, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, and activist. Born in the Soviet Union to Jewish parents, she began her career as a child actress shortly after immigrating to the United States ...

. The facial expression has gone on to become a popular Internet meme identified by the acronym RBF.

Spread in wider culture

Hyacinthe Rigaud- Louis XIV; Roi de France

The term has become widely referred to in the media. It has made its way into lifestyle and fashion magazines for women such as ''Cosmopolitan'' and ''Elle'', and been mentioned in published literature, both fiction and non-fiction.

Hadley Freeman Hadley Clare Freeman (born 15 May 1978) is an American British journalist based in London. She writes for ''The Sunday Times'', having previously written for ''The Guardian''. Early life Freeman was born in New York City to a Jewish family. ...

wrote that since it appeared in the Broken People video, it had enjoyed a stratospheric rise, and pointed out that the male equivalent term Resting Asshole Face (RAF) highlighted in this video had not received the same degree of comment.

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

psychologist Jonathan Freeman carried out a study showing that slightly angry facial expressions make other people think you are untrustworthy. In a 2014 article in the journal ''

Philological Quarterly The ''Philological Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on medieval European and modern literature and culture. It was established in 1922 by Hardin Craig. The inaugural issue of the journal was made available at sixty ...

'', Chloé Hogg, asserted that the phenomenon was not new, and offered

Hyacinthe Rigaud Jacint Rigau-Ros i Serra (; 18 July 1659 – 29 December 1743), known in French as Hyacinthe Rigaud (), was a Catalan-French baroque painter most famous for his portraits of Louis XIV and other members of the French nobility. Biography Rigaud ...

's portrait of

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

depicting his "bitchy resting face". Levels of resting bitch face can vary greatly, with different magnitudes and amounts of fierceness. In 2015, CBS News reported that some plastic surgeons were using plastic surgery to help patients with RBF. In October 2015, scientists from the company Noldus Information Technology used their FaceReader software to analyze the faces of celebrities like Kanye West, Kristen Stewart, Anna Kendrick and Queen Elizabeth II, notable public figures who have been known to occasionally wear a less-than-pleased expression, and proved that resting bitch face does exist.

References

{{Authority control Facial expressions Internet memes

History

Spread in wider culture

See also

References