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"As someone with major resting bitch face, I love that Ben Affleck is owning his"

an ode to resting bitch face
"I love that Ben is owning his resting bitch face"Jade Biggs - Getty Images

You know those people who just look genuinely friendly? The kind of people you wouldn't mind approaching on a busy train to ask "is this seat free?". The kind of people who literally radiate niceness. Well, I'm not one of them.

Although I am a nice person (no, really, I am), my face doesn't tell the same story. It's not my fault. It's resting bitch face.

Resting bitch face, or bitchy resting face, as it's also known, can be described as a facial expression that unintentionally creates the impression that a person is permanently angry/annoyed/irritated, when actually that's just their face in default mode. Although perhaps a new concept to some, resting bitch face is not just another Millennial phrase for Boomers to wrap their heads around. Scientists have even studied it.

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Personally, I have no ill-feelings towards my resting bitch face. I like being unapproachable. I like the spare seat next to me on the train remaining exactly that. What is annoying, however, is frequently being told to "cheer up" or to "tell my face I'm having fun" or my personal favourite: "Smile love, it might never happen." The latter usually being delivered by a balding, middle-aged man with a beer belly and a pint of [insert cheapest draft lager here] in hand.

I'm not alone in this though. Many celebrities have been accused of having resting bitch face. Kristen Stewart, Anna Kendrick, even the late Queen Elizabeth II to name a few, and most recently: Ben Affleck.

"Ben Affleck just has resting bitch face. I don’t think he’s mad or nothing. Just his default," one person tweeted after a clip of Affleck at this year's Grammy Awards went viral. "When are we as a society ready to admit that Ben Affleck has resting bitch face?" someone else asked, with a third simply saying: "Ben Affleck is the epitome of 'resting bitch face'."

Now, even Affleck himself has waded in on his resting bitch face, and quite frankly, I'm obsessed with his decision to own it.

"Listen, I have a very unhappy-looking resting face," Affleck said this week during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "This is me content. This is me amused," he said as his face showed about as much amusement as a rice cake. "That’s how God made me. You don’t have to punish me for it," he went on, referencing the mixed reaction from fans to that Grammys clip.

But why should Affleck, or any of us for that matter, be "punished" for simply existing in default mode? Where in the rule book to life does it say "thou must have a smile on thou's face at all timeth"? Spoiler alert: there's no rule book to life. Nor any rules on what your face should or shouldn't look like. So, go forth and rest that bitch face like you've never rested that bitch face before. I, for one, will continue wearing mine with pride. Although, admittedly, you won't be able to tell from the outside.

Follow Jade on Instagram and Twitter.

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