face

FACE

Body part. 1. At the front of our head, the face includes 23 surface landmarks: a. skin, b. ears, c. earlobes, d. forehead, e. eyebrows, f. eyes, g. eyelids, h. eyelashes, i. nose, j. nostrils, k. nostril bulbs, l. cheekbones, m. cheeks, n. philtrum, o. lips, p. jowls, q. hair, r. wrinkles, s. moles, t. eccrine glands, u. sebacious glands, v. apocrine glands, and w. jaws. 2. Nonverbally, the most emotionally expressive (i.e., the moodiest) part of the body (see FACIAL EXPRESSION).

Usage: The face a. defines our identity (see FACIAL I.D.); b. expresses our attitudes, opinions, and moods; and c. shows how we relate to others. A face is every human's visual trademark, and is therefore the most photographed part of the human body.

Anthropology. For 99.99% of our existence as Homo we watched other faces, but rarely saw our own except as glimpsed in ponds or pools. The phantom of facial personality is a dangerous and mystical experience in many cultures. Capturing a face in pictures or mirrors, e.g., is akin to capturing the soul. That in so many societies a face reflects the soul bespeaks the nonverbal power of its landmarks. (N.B.: Perhaps this is why the ancient Egyptian word for hand mirror [ankh] bears a resemblance to the word for life ['nh].)

Facial dominance. "What do dominant faces look like? Everyone knows because anyone can sort portraits on this basis, but facial dominance seems to be a gestalt concept, difficult to describe in simple terms. Faces identified as dominant are more likely to be handsome--with striking exceptions, to be muscular, to have prominent as opposed to weak chins, and to have heavy brow ridges with deep set eyes. Submissive faces are often round or narrow, with ears 'sticking out,' while dominant faces are oval or rectangular with close-set ears (Mazur, et al. 1984)" (Mazur and Mueller 1996). (N.B.: The authors found that facial dominance correlated with a higher achieved rank in the U.S. military.)

Media. "My face is my livelihood." --Kramer (Seinfeld, March 26, 1999)

Mobility. Our face is exquisitely expressive. Its features are incredibly mobile, more so than any other primate's. Because our face "speaks for itself" with muscular eloquence and candor, speech has comparatively few words (such as, e.g., "smile," "pout," or "frown") for its diverse gestures (see, e.g., TENSE-MOUTH and TONGUE-SHOW, which lack dictionary entries). Emotionally, the face is mightier than the word.

RESEARCH REPORTS: 1. Each of the 28 bones of the human face and skull "has been inherited in unbroken succession from the air-breathing fishes of pre-Devonian times" (Gregory 1927:20-21). 2. Facial expressions evolved from movements originally designed a. for protection of vulnerable areas, b. for vigorous breathing, and c. for grooming (Andrew 1963). 3. Facial expressions for primary affects (i.e., happiness, anger, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust/contempt, and interest) may be common to humankind (Ekman and Friesen 1971). 4. "In mammals the primitive neck muscles gave rise to two muscle layers: a superficial longitudinal layer, the platysma, and a deeper transverse layer, the sphincter colli profundis, which have come to extend well into the facial region" (Chevalier-Skolnikoff 1973:59).

E-Commentary: "Thanks for your e-mail with your kind permission, and for your wishes, because we need luck in our work on prosopognosis [prosopognosia: 'face blindness,' a cortical dysfunction making it difficult or impossible to recognize a face]. I will keep you updated on our progress. I am pleased to know that 'prosopognosis' is an area of great concern for you, as well. Kindly note my thesis, that: 'Many people, between us, acting or reacting with violence, are some kind prosopagnostics, they have some degree of face blindness. Therefore they can't receive, they don't have the ability to feel at all, the very emotions, expressed through the face of the victim.'" --Panos Axiomakaros, Olympian University, Athens, Greece (3/27/00 12:36:07 PM Pacific Standard Time)

E-Commentary: Hello! All my life, people have been telling me that I appear angry when I do not feel angry. I am an elementary school teacher and this problem I have with nonverbal communication really gets in my way. I want to learn to project a warmer, more approachable expression. Is there training available anywhere on this subject? Thank you for any help you can provide. --Patti (5/17/05 12:58:31 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time)

Thanks for your e-mail. This is a common complaint of people who have droopy lip corners and vertical creases above the nasal bridge when the face is at rest in a reposed state. Have a friend take a picture of your face in its relaxed, expressionless state, and ask that he or she take an objective look at your mouth corners and eyebrows. If the face in the photo looks "angry," you have several options including makeup (a specialist can help soften your look), Botox (drastic but popular), and deliberately self-conscious efforts to produce more smiles. Again, many have this complaint, but it's easy to change or at least soften a face that looks angry in repose.

See also BLANK FACE, FACIAL BEAUTY, FACIAL RECOGNITION.

Copyright© 1998 - 2005 (David B. Givens/Center for Nonverbal Studies)
Detail of 1928 photo by Edward Steichen of Greta Garbo. Disliking her curly hairdo, Garbo hides it from view. (Garbo had one of the world's most perfectly symmetrical faces.)