# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/21 "2005-02-10T19:45:14Z")
> [@Maureen](#): > > Practice, practice practice. All because of Bugs Bunny, who to my 7 year old brain, was God. When I was seven I tried to teach myself to raise one eyebrow. I’d sit for what seems like hours, but all I ever accomplished to an intermittent expression of total surprise. Freaked my grandmother out when she saw me. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/22 "2005-02-10T20:37:09Z")
I can also do Dueling Eyebrows. And that is possibly the cutest baby EVER. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/23 "2005-02-10T20:45:03Z")
I want Dueling Eyebrows! _mope_ I can raise my right eyebrow if I want to do the :dubious: expression, but not my left. Life has been so cruel to me ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/24 "2005-02-11T00:27:10Z")
I can only raise my right eyebrow, and I’m a righty. My right-handed sister can only raise her left eyebrow. So if there’s a correlation with handedness, it’s not perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/25 "2005-02-11T01:02:48Z")
I can do both. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/26 "2005-02-11T01:05:45Z")
CUTEST BABY EVAR. Anyway. I’m about as lefthanded as they come, and I can only raise my right eyebrow independently. I don’t think handedness is really a factor at work here… ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/27 "2005-02-11T01:09:13Z")
First: That picture belongs on a greeting card, for sure. She looks like the cleverest baby ever captured on film! Second: I am right-handed and can raise my left eyebrow with ease, but must work to raise my right. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/28 "2005-02-11T01:15:21Z")
> [@mlerose](#): > > 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. I’m like **mlerose’s** mom, except that I do know when I’m doing it. I can’t control it and can’t usually lift just one eyebrow on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/29 "2005-02-11T01:17:42Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > [Vulcan] Fascinating. [/Vulcan] DAMN YOU! Beat me to it!! :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/30 "2005-02-11T06:22:33Z")
> [@Helena](#): > > 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! Your baby is absolutely ADORABLE. It belongs on a widely-circulated email forward, a greeting card (as someone already mentioned), or something… I have no trouble raising either of my eyebrows. I don’t ever remember it being difficult. I’m guessing you can either be born with it, or if not, you can “train” yourself to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/31 "2005-02-11T06:42:21Z")
I can do both. All the males on my father’s side can. Can you guys wiggle the ears too? ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/32 "2005-02-11T07:07:44Z")
I couldn’t do it until as a teenager, I saw someone else doing it and wanted to learn. I practiced holding the muscles in place and then letting go, until I learned what it “felt” like to make each movement and learned to do it without using my hands. After learning how to mash one brow down, pull the other one up (both sides), I learned to control the muscles at the back of the brow without pulling the front down to a furrow; that is, I can lift the backs of my eyebrows up either independently from one another or together to form a very Spock-like expression. I can lift each one by itself either way, I can switch back and forth very quickly, and I can do a sort of “wave” by lifting the corner of one and raising/lowering it across my forehead to the other side. If you saw “Once Bitten” that movie in the 80s with Jim Carrey, I think there’s a scene in there where he does this. I can also fake a lot of nervous twitches and ticks. I tend to use facial expression to communicate more than most people, I think. I’ve been told I’m like a character from a comic book that’s walked off a page and into real life (funny enough that I turn myself into a comic years later.) I was very popular in drama class. ---
**Author:** ![mza662](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@mza662](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mza662)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/33 "2005-02-11T08:01:19Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > 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. im right handed and can easily raise my right eyebrow and a little less easily the left. always been able to, from memory i know a few people who’ve learned to do it though. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/34 "2005-02-11T08:03:47Z")
She’s a cutie. My father could do it, and I remember trying to emulate him when I was maybe 5 or 6. I can raise either eyebrow at will independantly of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/35 "2005-02-11T12:03:54Z")
My 5th grade teacher could do it, and I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, so I spent the year learning. It’s become quite useful since the children have gotten older. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/36 "2005-02-11T12:36:35Z")
I’ve tried for years, and have never been able to raise either eyebrow independently. I can only wink with my left eye, and I can feel some kind of connection there - I don’t generally even attempt to raise my right eyebrow as a rule. Right handed, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/37 "2005-02-11T14:57:49Z")
I’ve taught myself, but only one … that was sufficient to imitate Roger Moore, who was the one who inspired me to want to learn to do this in the first place (I’m just a tad bit too young to be a Sean Connery guy, or at least to have been one at that age). ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/38 "2005-02-11T17:21:15Z")
i’ve always thought it was genetic, like being able to roll your tongue or wiggle your ears. My Dad can do the very impressive either/or/waving brows, and 2 of the 4 kids inherited the ability. Alas, I was not one of them, and was horribly jealous and tried desperately to teach myself, including scotch-taping one side or the other and practicing for hours and hours as a teen. I never managed it, although I can make my eyes move independantly, wiggle my nostils and ears and do the aforementioned tounge thing. I may have went a bit far overcompensating, eh? :dubious: My son’s been able to cock one brow since infancy and it just slays me, really difficult when he was in the terrible twos and would try to use that look to distract Mommy. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/39 "2005-02-12T06:07:41Z")
Awww, thanks! We think she’s pretty great. 😃 (It’s a good thing we like her, with some of the diapers she’s been having lately.) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361/40 "2005-02-12T06:22:39Z")
I’m left-handed, and can only raise my left eyebrow, so that goes agin’ the handedness theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raising-one-eyebrow-practised-skill-or-natural-talent/289361.md?page=3)