TOW #12- "Why Women Smile" by Amy Cunningham

This week's TOW is on "Why Women Smile" by Amy Cunningham. This essay in on the ideal of women to always appear happy, even when they are not. The author explains that from very early childhood, we learn to smile, and it is a very natural thing. Even children who are blind smile, because they are exposed to an event or sensation that makes them very happy. However, as we get older, smiles become more of a mask. Cunningham explains how smiling becomes a standard expression for a woman, and they are expected to smile and appear happy all the time. Women, when not smiling, are often asked if they are ok or if something is terribly wrong. While this is a nice gesture, sometimes they are just holding a neutral expression, and there is actually nothing wrong. "We smile so often and so promiscuously-when we're angry, when we're tense, when we're with children, when we're being photographed, when we're interviewing for a job, when we're meeting candidates to employ-that the Smiling Woman has become a peculiarly American archetype"(Para 3 Cunningham). This has prevented women from showing their real expressions, and allowing them to be true to themselves. The author's purpose in this essay is to show the harm and benefit of smiling all the time, but also proves a point on how our society can be shallow, and force us to wear masks instead of expressing our true selves.