For most of my life, I have had a minor but chronic condition: My face, when it is at ease, looks not just serious but mean. There are women who will recognize this problem, particularly those who -- around this time of the year, as the sun comes out and more of us are outside -- have grown accustomed to being asked `Why don`t you smile?` by anonymous people, usually men, on the street (that, or breathlessly practicing how we can put more people `at ease` by softening our facial expressions in the mirror). These smile critics are not only on the street, of course. Sometimes they are on television, offering advice to female politicians or female athletes, or politicians, suggesting that the...
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