Resting bitch face


Resting bitch face, also known as RBF, or bitchy resting face, is a facial expression that unintentionally appears as if a person is angry, annoyed, irritated, or contemptuous, particularly when the individual is relaxed, resting or not expressing any particular emotion.
with his face resting
The concept has been studied by psychologists and may have psychological implications related to facial biases, gender stereotypes, human judgement and decision-making. The concept has also been studied by scientists with information technology. Using a type of facial recognition system, 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 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 video titled "Bitchy Resting Face" on the Funny or Die website in which male and female "sufferers" of an annoyed-looking blank expression ask for understanding from non-sufferers.
The facial expression has gone on to become a popular Internet meme identified by the acronym RBF.

Spread in wider culture

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 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 highlighted in this video had not received the same degree of comment. New York University psychologist Jonathan Freeman carried out a study showing that slightly angry facial expressions make other people think you are untrustworthy.
Chloé Hogg, in a 2014 article in the journal Philological Quarterly, asserted that the phenomenon was not new, and offered Hyacinthe Rigaud's portrait of Louis XIV of France 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 2019, comedian Andrew Doyle stated that he had cast actress Alice Marshall as his character Titania McGrath, in part because she could convincingly pull off Titania's Resting Bitch Face.