There are many women who say that it’s attractive when a man smiles, and that smiling makes people seem more pleasant and positive. That seems logical and intuitive. But I found articles claiming that men are less attractive when they smile, and more attractive when they do NOT smile:
Which, in your opinion, is correct? Should men smile, or are they better off not smiling?
It depends on whether they have mossy teeth.
P.S. The most attractive people I know don’t sit around wondering whether they should, or shouldn’t, smile. They do what comes naturally. Geesh.
I’m with Punditlisa on this. They should do as they feel. Few things are as creepy as forced smiles or posturing frowns.
Affectations are never the way to go, in my opinion!
Depends on how the smile/non-smile is used.
Yeah, it’s totally dependent on the condition of the teeth and when and why they’re smiling.
This exactly. Fake is usually pretty easy to spot.
On the other hand, some perfectly agreeable people may look grouchy and scary just because. My husband is one of those. He’s got a crease between his eyebrows that looks like a terminal scowl. And he’s not a smiley guy. Now, when he’s really pissed, you don’t want to be anywhere around him, but under normal circumstances, he’s a perfectly nice guy, easy to talk to, ready to lend a hand when he can.
Bottom line - be yourself and don’t try to force an expression. Would you really want to spend any time with someone who’s so easily fooled if you do?
Handsome men are handsome are handsome men regardless. But a genuine smile lights up a whole face. I admit often being attracted to the dour, serious faces, because I enjoy doing something that makes them smile, or seeing that rare smile, and knowing it’s genuine.
Blue and green eyes especially sparkle when a real smile happens.
I’m always happy to see a smile, even if it’s sorta forced. To me, it conveys someone is trying despite feeling to the contrary, and that’s incredibly appealing. The only thing that would put me off is if it’s lecherous. Ugh.
If you have nice teeth, and you also happen to have dimples, a smile will melt me.
Smiling is better in my book. Men who never give a genuine smile are offputting to me.
I met my husband online. The first time I saw his profile, he had a picture of himself up that was not smiling. It made him look grumpy and dull-witted to me. A female friend of his also noticed the bad, unsmiling picture and took a great pic of him in a moment when he was smiling naturally that he used to update his profile. When I saw his profile again, I was instantly drawn in by how good-natured and intelligent he looked. Contacted him and we’ve been together ever since.
I didn’t read the articles so this may be irrelevant but I wonder if the findings are based photographs the women were shown or if they were speaking about real life situations. Non smiling models can be some of the purtiest creatures on the planet but I like to see flesh and blood men smiling. Heck, I think everyone looks better smiling.
As far as the condition of the teeth, my ex has some really [del]British[/del] fucked up teeth but his smile is heart meltingly attractive.
Smile. We can’t all be Mr. Darcy.
Heh. I though about you this weekend (well not *you *you, as obviously I’ve never met you. I mean I thought of this post) when I watched P & P for the umpteenth time. Lord is that man a sourpuss. I always think, sure Lizzy, you’ll get to shag him on a regular basis but you’ll also have to live with the grump for the rest of your life. No thank you.
The problem with using strategies in dating is that shit’s exhausting. You can’t keep it up forever. Who would you rather be with, a person you fooled for a while who really likes the kind of person you’re pretending to be, or a person you didn’t fool who really likes the kind of person you are? Neither one is automatically a wrong answer; maybe you’re looking for a short term hook up. In which case, go ahead and experiment and find what works best for you. But if you’re looking for something long term, go with the behavior you can keep up long term. It’s the one you don’t have to think about.
Men don’t have the issues with resting bitch face that women do.
A charming genuine smile can make an OK looking guy handsome (never a Tom Cruise woman myself, but his smile is disarming). But unless you are a good enough actor to fake genuine, don’t try.
Never fake. But I am more attracted to happy people. I guess a lot depends upon what kind of woman you are hoping to attract? I’m guessing the strong silent type attracts one sort, and the happy, cheerful type attracts another.
In the end, be who you are, and - even if it takes a little longer - you’ll wind up attracting someone who likes you for yourself. There’s nothing worse than attracting who you think you want, and then trying to be who they thought they were getting.
Consensus in the thread so far seems to be that smiling is better. Or maybe, smiling doesn’t make a man look better, but it makes him seem more likable?