Comment by abruzzi
5 years ago
I'm an American, but I don't smile by showing my teeth, though I will sometimes do a closed lip smile. For me I don't think it is cultural, but rather that smiling always feels to me like baring my teeth, i.e. aggressive and threatening. I don't honestly know why I feel that way, I don't have any history or experiences that would seem to cause that, but it just feels wrong to do. I've always wondered if there are other people have the same reaction?
Note: I don't see other people's smiles as threatening, it just feels that way when I do it.
Not American (British), and it's never felt aggressive/threatening, but smiling in a way that shows my teeth has always felt exceptionally forced. It doesn't stand out as strange when other people do it, but it just doesn't feel like a natural reaction for me.
I'm a smirker also. It has the unfortunate side effect of standing out in photos, where I envy people with their full smiles.
When you think about it though, a full teethy smile is a weird thing.
"When you think about it though "
When you think about anything it becomes weird and deserves smile. Having said that I think since everything is weird then you can say that almost nothing is weird. And the key is not to think about it too seriously.