
Though I have surely done it at one point or another, it is especially prevalent among guys who are somewhere in between teenagehood and middle age, the period of life most fraught with questions and doubts about one’s place in the world. “This is a face that says, ‘I’m kind of fun!’ but still reminds you, the viewer, ‘I am a tough, serious dude.” -Alex Kirshner


It is this: raised eyebrows, and tightened lips. But all along, there has been a single face that’s gone entirely unnoticed for the past decade-plus of its existence. Nearly all of said selfie crazes are performed by women, and we rarely discuss the ones percolating among men.

Since the dawn of duckface in the mid-2000s - the act of pursing one’s lips and pushing them forward as if leaning in for a particularly theatrical kiss - we’ve replaced it with “sparrow face,” “migraine face,” belfies, T-rex hands, Bambi-ing, and that weird thing where teens cover their entire face with one hand, thus eliminating the purpose of a selfie in the first place. And in that span of time, we’ve had to innovate.

If you’ve ever experienced the misfortune of taking a photo of yourself that will end up on the internet, you have contemplated the weight of the following question: How should I move the muscles in my face to communicate my identity in the most socially correct way possible?įor many of us, the answer is clear: a smile, with teeth! And yet thanks to the proliferation of social media, dating apps, and technology that makes taking selfies infuriatingly addicting (curse you, portrait mode), human beings are now forced to pose for more photos than at any other point in history.
