“You’re too sexy to frown.”

I hate when men assume the authority to police a woman’s body on the street.

And I mean this beyond sexist macroagressive behaviour like yelling, “Hey sexy!” Or “How much?” out their car window.

Funny enough, what particularly bothers me is the need to tell me to smile while I’m walking down the street.

“Smile, it’s a beautiful day,” an idiot will tell me — he assumes this is an effective way to pick up a woman.

“You’re too sexy to frown,” another one will say. 

“Can I get a smile?”

Fuck no. And I’ll tell you why.

Here are just a few reasons why your “smile for me” is microagressive, sexist and just plain rude.

1. I’m not your puppet. I’m not made for your amusement and will not dance for you. I’ll frown if I wish to regardless if it’s a beautiful day.
2. 98% of time this phrase will come from someone I don’t know. Which is even more offensive. What makes you think you can tell a stranger what to do with their face?
3. “You’re too sexy to frown.” Had the woman you said this to experienced a rough day, your telling her to smile is not only rude but dismissive. “You’re too sexy to frown” just sounds like you’re too hot to have problems. Because being beautiful is all there is to my female being. HA!
4. It’s condescending, sexist, and a subtle form of prejudice. No girl anywhere has to smile for you — I don’t care what your Daddy told you. She doesn’t belong to you and therefore doesn’t have to perform for you.

Unless your the guy from LifeTouch taking a fifth grade portrait of me sitting in front of a fake brick wall and fake trees, don’t you dare tell me to smile. And since I’ve been out of elementary school for more than a decade and never ordered those pictures anyway, don’t– for a second– think that your sexist “pick up line” will ever work on me.

“He told me to smile and I did because I liked it. I thought ‘Hey! He can tell me what to do.’ Now we’re together.” Said #NoWomanEver

Good Reads

Huffington Post:

19 Snarky Tweets That Prove #NoWomanEver Enjoys Being Harassed

#NoWomanEver

The Guardian’s Don’t Tell Her to Smile

Don’t tell her to smile.