# Raising one eyebrow--practised skill or natural talent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361 "2005-02-10T05:52:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/1 "2005-02-10T05:52:30Z")
I ask because I’ve seen my six-week old baby do this–as captured in [this picture](http://home.comcast.net/~helenajole/6week3.jpg) (isn’t she cute?) It’s a little hard to tell here because of the lighting, so I wasn’t quite sure at first, but she’s done it a few more times since then. In addition to being charmed and delighted I’m also jealous–I’ve never been able to do that! ---
**Author:** ![coop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@coop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coop)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/2 "2005-02-10T05:57:08Z")
I can only raise my left eyebrow. Have tried countless times to get the right one to move, but it will only do it in tandem with the left. Spun a girl out the other day with the one brow lift… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/3 "2005-02-10T05:57:35Z")
It is definitely a natural talent. It shows that she is highly intelligent, extremely witty and good natured, and damn cute to boot. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/4 "2005-02-10T06:00:36Z")
Wow! A sardonic baby. I can’t wait until she learns to type. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/5 "2005-02-10T06:05:57Z")
I can do it with either eyebrow, and damn if isn’t just about the only gift I have, and damn if I can think of any way of making money with it. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/6 "2005-02-10T06:15:03Z")
I’ve practiced it enough that I can do it with both eyebrows. It was weird, learning to use muscle groups indepentantly in a way I haven’t had to since learnign to wink when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/7 "2005-02-10T06:53:37Z")
Raising my left was natural, something I could always do without thinking about it, since I was a young child. Raising my right was something I had to deliberately teach myself to do over a period of about six months when I was twenty. For what it’s worth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/8 "2005-02-10T06:59:56Z")
Practice, practice practice. All because of Bugs Bunny, who to my 7 year old brain, was God. ---
**Author:** ![Izzybella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e56c9b/32.png) [@Izzybella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Izzybella)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/9 "2005-02-10T14:55:04Z")
I’ve always been able to raise my right eyebrow. I have to work really hard to raise just my left. And I noticed this is the exact opposite of most of you who’ve posted. Maybe it’s because I’m left-handed? Anyway, the problem I have with the right eyebrow is that sometimes it’s uncontrollable and I look like a right eyebrow-raising freak. Then I wind up looking skeptical when I’m really just interested. ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/10 "2005-02-10T16:47:06Z")
The ability to raise one eyebrow at a time at will runs in my mother’s family and skips every other generation. So my grandmother could, my mother can’t, and my sisters and I can. Actually, I think each of them can only do one. But I can do both and have been able to since my mom first told me that her mother used to do that, and that she could not. I think I was about five years old. I ran to a mirror, and pop! up came one eyebrow. Then I tried to do the other one, and it worked. The funny thing is that my mom CAN raise one eyebrow at a time; she just can’t control it and doesn’t know she’s doing it when she is. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/11 "2005-02-10T16:48:59Z")
[Vulcan] Fascinating. [/Vulcan] ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/12 "2005-02-10T17:00:09Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Raising my left was natural, something I could always do without thinking about it, since I was a young child. > > Raising my right was something I had to deliberately teach myself to do over a period of about six months when I was twenty. > > For what it’s worth. 🙂 Exactly the same with me, down to which eyebrow I could do first. Except I was 15 or 16. And I think it was more like 3, not 6 months. The left eyebrow thing was something I “discovered” when I was 13 or 14. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/13 "2005-02-10T17:18:31Z")
I believe it is a natural and incredibly valuable talent. I can do the left eyebrow raise with ease, but not the right. My middle daughter does the right and uses it to do her Paul McCartney impression. Mostly in combination of making fun of me. Very valuable, indeed. But the more important issue here…Oh my God, **Helena** , that baby is absolutely adorable. And the look is incredible. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard it, but you’re going to have your hands full with that one. She really is incredibly cute. Congratulations! ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/14 "2005-02-10T17:21:47Z")
Come on, now. 12 replies without one of these: :dubious: ? (Cute baby, by the way…) ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/15 "2005-02-10T17:27:01Z")
> [@Salem](#): > > But the more important issue here…Oh my God, **Helena** , that baby is absolutely adorable. And the look is incredible. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard it, but you’re going to have your hands full with that one. She really is incredibly cute. Congratulations! And didja notice? _nudge, nudge_…She’s a redhead. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fox\_Paws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85e7bf/32.png) [@Fox\_Paws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fox_Paws)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/16 "2005-02-10T17:41:14Z")
After years of practice I have nearly mastered Dueling Eyebrows, a kick-ass routine to the tune of Dueling Banjos. I rock. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/17 "2005-02-10T17:43:21Z")
I can raise the left eyebrow very well, and the right eyebrow somewhat. It appears to be a natural talent. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/18 "2005-02-10T18:12:13Z")
I’m left-handed and can easily raise my right eyebrow, but have never been able to do the left. I wonder if there’s any correlation with handedness. ---
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/19 "2005-02-10T18:31:41Z")
**Helena** , what an adorable baby! I can do both at will and have been able to with no effort for as long as I can remember. My infant baby girl does it too, but my 7 year old can’t without concentrating really hard. Which is very cute to watch.) The baby isn’t very active, but is very alert and attuned to what’s going on and of course wants to see everything. She’s very serious about it all too. One day I was carrying her around when her father stopped us so he could coo at her. She looked at him for a few seconds and then raised her left eyebrow as if to say, " You stopped my tour for this?" It was so funny. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/20 "2005-02-10T19:27:50Z")
Helena, Great picture! I’ve always been able to raise my eyebrows independent of each other for as long as I can remember. My wife, on the other hand, can’t do it at all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361.md?page=2)