I Wanna See Men Smiling ☺️
Added 2023-01-29 18:46:16 +0000 UTCSo many men do not smile in photos. And I find it really sad. I don’t know if it’s a macho thing, feeling like it’s weak to look happy or some nonsense, but honestly, it’s so good to see guys smile and enjoy themselves. The whole tall, dark and menacing thing is… girl, bye.
P.S. This isn‘t some ignorant plea for everyone to be happy all the time. No one is or should be happy all the time. I’m just saying, it’d be nice to see a lot more guys feeling comfortable being happy, playful (not sexually) and just content. No pressure, no facade of being this or that, just happy in themselves.
Comments
To be honest, it's just hard to lol
ColonelSanders1163
2023-02-24 06:30:52 +0000 UTCHonestly I just don't like photos, growing up, my mother always wanted photos saying "you're going to be glad you have these when I'm gone" and yeah I will be, but shes also still pretty young and i believe theres still at least 30 more years with her (god forbid anything terrible happens) and so for now I'm just not a fan of having my picture taken, and I'd much rather not look directly at the camera and give a half assed side smile so then I'm not directly acknowledging I'm having my picture taken and give a proper smile
Larry Joseph
2023-02-01 09:03:59 +0000 UTCSome don't smile because they're afraid that it makes them look soft and vulnerable, some don't smile because they think it'll make them look attractive. Me personally, I don't like smiling unless I'm actually happy, but since I started dating, I've had a lot of reasons to do so.
Ninja T-rex
2023-01-31 23:45:46 +0000 UTCLast time I felt comfortable smiling with someone in a photo, they abandoned me shortly after. What’s the point in smiling for the camera if I’m just gonna have to throw away the photo soon. It just feels awkward
John Doe
2023-01-31 09:10:57 +0000 UTCEh, I'm not much of a smiles guy myself. It's got nothing to do with my attitude(I like to think of myself as a pretty positive guy), but when I see myself smiling in the mirror or in pictures, I go "yeah, no".
Icky Paint Like Soup
2023-01-31 08:22:37 +0000 UTCI never smile if I can help it. Showing one's teeth is a submission signal in primates. When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.
Cooper Little
2023-01-31 07:33:36 +0000 UTCGood luck. It’s very hostile world out there for guys.
DeemerWM
2023-01-31 07:30:36 +0000 UTCPinch of salt there I think.
Sam
2023-01-31 00:52:34 +0000 UTCI don't smile because i lost most of my teeth. its why i hate the expectation in america that we should be smiling at everyone
orc_daddy
2023-01-30 16:25:52 +0000 UTCFor me, it was always because my teeth had been very crooked. It wasn't for any stoicism, but just that I was embarrassed. I've since gotten braces and now find myself constantly smiling in photos to show it off. I've gotten so many compliments on it, and it's really helped improve my self image.
A Surprisingly Realistic Wax Replica of Nick Cage
2023-01-30 12:30:03 +0000 UTCI just find myself feeling awkward and unable to express a good smile 🤧
TheNoisy
2023-01-30 12:15:07 +0000 UTCThere's a balnce I've found between being tough and vulnerable. You can't be complete with just one or the other. We need both. And I think that applies to anyone, regardless of what your bits look like.
TheFireIron 357
2023-01-30 05:58:05 +0000 UTCStoic masculinity is an extremely toxic form of masculinity, where, According to female psychologist Belle Hooks, young boys are severed from their mothers too soon. The inability to feel, understand, and express healthy emotions is the definition of traditional (stoic) masculinity. I'm paraphrasing, since I don't remember the exact wording of the quote, but the message is pretty clear.
Lachlan Parker
2023-01-30 04:59:30 +0000 UTCOr how their father would shame them for it without a shred of sympathy or compassion (I don't say this from experience, and I've always been expressive).
Lachlan Parker
2023-01-30 04:59:26 +0000 UTCBehind every guy who isn’t open with his emotions, is a story (or several) about a time a woman in his life used his emotions against him in some way. Or a story about how being emotionally sensitive made a woman lose attraction for him.
Jonathan Stark
2023-01-30 04:33:10 +0000 UTCMy coworkers have told me I never smile in company pictures, even the casual selfies they might take during a lunch break. I never noticed, but I guess I never think to smile, it just happens if I feel it. I hope I don't come across as gruff or imposing or something, they say it's endearing since they know me. I know I used to smile as a nervous reaction up to when I was around 12, but that seems to have stopped.
Ka'laar
2023-01-30 03:45:53 +0000 UTCgrowing up and my smile was always crictized they called it the pope smile, so if I'm coming off as dark and menacing it's probably because I don't feel comfortable smiling
Sean Keller
2023-01-30 02:31:23 +0000 UTCIt's hard to smile for deliberate photos, because they are photos for the sake of being photos- if that makes any sense. That is probably why you may not see genuine guy smiles in photos. For me? I just... don't have much to smile about, unless I'm at home with my pups.
Nox Nemesis
2023-01-30 01:44:11 +0000 UTCI find it hard to make a convincing smile if I'm not genuinely happy at the time. If I smile for a picture, it comes across as looking forced.
Chad Schmaltz
2023-01-30 00:40:52 +0000 UTCFor pictures it's always forced for me always been a thing can't really smile naturally wen there's a camera on me for what ever reason. I've adopted the act like your laughing strategy and while better it's still not natural by any means 😅. Doesn't help that for the longest time in my life I hated the way I looked. Got through that phase tho so still working on other things but feeling a lot better about myself past few years. Progress is progress 👍
Liam Locke
2023-01-30 00:40:30 +0000 UTCI often feel weird when I dont smile for a photo. So I never understood the whole dont smile on photo thing. Thanks again Tea for wonderful thought.
Phoenix Brave Hideki
2023-01-29 22:56:35 +0000 UTCI try to smile slightly for pictures although not with confidence as I got told in the past that it looked stupid when I smiled, like a squirrel with puffed up cheeks.
UnknownToYou
2023-01-29 22:41:41 +0000 UTCI generally don't like how I look on photos like 99% of the time. And even when I get told to smile, it still looks ... wrong. at least to me, even though I get told otherwise. But it's just hard to see in a different way. At least that's my experience
Arvel
2023-01-29 22:14:09 +0000 UTCThe reason I don’t smile is because I look like I’m gonna shit myself
Sir Michaelangelo III
2023-01-29 21:58:00 +0000 UTCOften we're told that we look odd/creepy/fake when we smile, or someone points out a flaw that smiling makes 'obvious'. This is especially the case in posed photos. I can still remember 11 years later someone pointing out that when I smile they notice that my left eye is less open than my right eye - based on a photo.
Stuart Galloway
2023-01-29 21:40:40 +0000 UTCCan't speak for anyone else but for me it's just that either I smile involuntarily or I forget how to face and end up looking like a maniac
yamitenshi
2023-01-29 19:50:23 +0000 UTCExactly. Candid photos all the way. Forced smiles are not something anybody should want. We all need to be assigned personal photographers at birth, to capture all those genuine smiles 😄
TeacupAudio
2023-01-29 19:50:19 +0000 UTCI just dont believe in forcing a smile for a photo. Feels disingenuous to me. If im smiling its because im actually happy not because someone said to for a photo. Fake smiles the eyes dont light up as much if that makes any sense.
That one guy
2023-01-29 19:43:07 +0000 UTCFrom what I've seen a decent chunk of men avoid smiling in public either because without the right look a smile can look creepy and that a smile just isn't how they show happiness. (For example some people show it by being more attentive if they're usually air headed, some get really energetic, others may simply acknowledge it with words and go about their day or some other little quirk)
Just some guy with a handlebar mustache
2023-01-29 19:42:55 +0000 UTCI would love to, but I don't really have anything to smile about.
Miles Skywalker
2023-01-29 19:07:48 +0000 UTCI do not enjoy being photographed and do not naturally smile (my neutral expression has some serious Resting Bitch Face.) At best you're going to get a smirk unless you make me laugh first. I'm weird like that.
Ravenforce3
2023-01-29 19:04:19 +0000 UTC
