tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/eyebrows-52141/articlesEyebrows – The Conversation2021-04-30T03:16:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1570472021-04-30T03:16:19Z2021-04-30T03:16:19ZCurious Kids: why do we have eyebrows?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397452/original/file-20210428-17-1xkb1y3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=19%2C5%2C979%2C992&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-render-abstract-emotional-face-icon-726202051">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Mummy, why do we have eyebrows? — Alexander, age 3, Brisbane.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What a great, eyebrow-raising question, Alexander!</p>
<p>Eyebrows come in a range of shapes, sizes and colours. They help make our faces unique. But there’s more to eyebrows than meets the eye.</p>
<h2>Eyebrows help us express our feelings</h2>
<p>Our eyebrows say a lot about how we are feeling. We scrunch our eyebrows when angry, and perk them up when surprised.</p>
<p>Moving our eyebrows can also tell people if we’re happy, confused, sad or upset. These expressions help us <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TukNoJDgMTUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR3&ots=GWDrdo9Zf9&sig=eXSu_cNe8irY72DOpvqMaW6Sy0E">communicate</a>. So, eyebrows can tell a story without saying a word.</p>
<p>How quickly we move our eyebrows also matters. When we’re sad, we move our eyebrows slowly. When we’re angry, we move them faster. And when we’re happy, we move them the fastest.</p>
<h2>Eyebrows protect your eyes</h2>
<p>If you have been running around on a hot day, you might notice some sweating on your forehead. The shape of the bones and <a href="https://youtu.be/T-FnAH9y1N4">skin</a> around the eyebrows helps direct the sweat toward the side of our faces. That stops water from running directly into our eyes.</p>
<p>How our eyebrow hairs are lined up, and the direction they grow in, also help protect our eyes from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537278/">sweat</a>, as well as from dirt, dust and water.</p>
<p>In fact, when dust lands on our eyebrows, we often <a href="https://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/S1545961614S0007X">blink automatically</a> to get rid of the dust. Even if dust lands on one eyebrow, we can’t help blinking both eyes.</p>
<p>Our eyebrows also shade our eyes from <a href="https://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/S1545961614S0007X">bright lights</a>. The eyebrow hairs stick out from our face, which reduces the amount of sunlight entering our eyes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl focussing in bright light" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391356/original/file-20210324-23-fpvg5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eyebrows can help block how much bright light enters our eyes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christian Moro/Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And when we’ve had a tiring day, or when we’re asleep, eyebrows help us <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537278/">relax</a> our eyes. They reduce strain on our eye muscles and help us shut our eyelids.</p>
<h2>Eyebrows form part of our identity</h2>
<p>Whether we have big bushy eyebrows, or styled “brows”, our eyebrows play a big part in making us look unique.</p>
<p>They also help us recognise <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/p5027">familiar faces</a>. So if we didn’t have eyebrows, we might not so easily recognise our friends or family.</p>
<p>Looking at eyebrows also helps us know if someone’s a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/p220131">man or a woman</a>. That’s because men tend to have thicker eyebrows closer to the eyes, and women have thinner eyebrows higher above the eyes. </p>
<p>And older people, like our grandparents, can have <a href="https://youtu.be/ZqwGTso2Wmc">tired</a> or droopy looking eyebrows. That’s because, <a href="http://www.oculist.net/downaton502/prof/ebook/duanes/pages/v8/v8c001.html">as people get older</a>, their eyebrow muscles become worn out and gravity pulls them down.</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-older-adults-get-shorter-146766">Curious Kids: why do older adults get shorter?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Eyebrows can be beautiful</h2>
<p>Since ancient Egyptian times, people have linked eyebrows with <a href="https://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/S1545961614S0007X">beauty</a>. Men and women used to <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/makeup/a9381/eyebrows-through-the-years/">paint on dark, arched eyebrows</a> with a black powder to show respect to Egyptian gods. Eyebrows were also thought to give people supernatural powers!</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-shaved-shaped-and-slit-eyebrows-through-the-ages-123872">Friday essay: shaved, shaped and slit - eyebrows through the ages</a>
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<p>Even today, people tweak the look of their eyebrows. They can remove hairs by tweezing or waxing. They can even dye their eyebrows or tattoo them.</p>
<p>So, next time you look in the mirror, take a closer look at your eyebrows. They tell others how you’re feeling and help protect your eyes. They also play a big part in what you look like and who you are.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, Curious Kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Your eyebrows can tell a whole story without saying a word.Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond UniversityCharlotte Phelps, PhD Student, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1238722019-11-14T19:07:37Z2019-11-14T19:07:37ZFriday essay: shaved, shaped and slit - eyebrows through the ages<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301462/original/file-20191113-77326-pyg9vs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C517%2C4483%2C2622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In ancient China, India and the Middle East, the art of eyebrow threading was popular. It is now enjoying a resurgence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-female-face-during-eyebrow-correction-295769573">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eyebrows can turn a smile into a leer, a grumpy pout into a come hither beckoning, and sad, downturned lips into a comedic grimace. </p>
<p>So, it’s little wonder these communicative markers of facial punctuation have been such a feature of beauty and fashion since the earliest days of recorded civilisation. </p>
<p>From completely shaved mounds to thick, furry lines, eyebrows are a part of the face we <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/what-you-get-for-40-120-or-1000-worth-of-eyebrow-care-20191113-p53acj.html">continue</a> to experiment with. We seek to hide, exacerbate and embellish them. And today, every shopping strip and mall has professionals ready to assist us with wax, thread and ink. </p>
<h2>Minimising distraction</h2>
<p>In the court of Elizabeth I, to draw attention to the perceived focal point of a woman’s body – her breasts – the monarch would pluck her eyebrows into thin lines or remove them completely, as well as shaving off hair at the top of her forehead. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1305&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301415/original/file-20191113-37464-uifye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1305&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many of her subjects followed Queen Elizabeth’s shaved eyebrow example.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-6079-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99">New York Public Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was an attempt to make her face plain and blank, thereby directing the viewer’s gaze lower to her substantial <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=mNLZkzxmiEIC&pg=PA107&dq=eyebrows+breasts+elizabethan&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjrq9p1t_lAhUTXisKHffJCSYQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=eyebrows%20breasts%20elizabethan&f=false">décolletage</a>. </p>
<p>Although the intentions were different, nonexistent or needle-thin brows had also been common in ancient China and other Asian cultures, where women plucked their eyebrows to resemble specific shapes with designated names such as “distant mountain” (likely referring to a central and distinctive point in the brow), “drooping pearl” and “willow branch”. </p>
<p>In ancient China, as well as in India and the Middle East, the technique of threading - the removal of hairs by twisting strands of cotton <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-4362.1997.00189.x">thread</a> - was popular for its accuracy. The technique, referred to as “khite” in Arabic and “fatlah” in Egyptian, is enjoying renewed <a href="https://journals.lww.com/dermatologicsurgery/Abstract/2011/06280/Eyebrow_Epilation_by_Threading__An_Increasingly.26.aspx">popularity</a> today. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=682&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301484/original/file-20191113-77342-1n7ymcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Detail from Tayu with Phoenix Robe, a Japanese painting by an anonymous artist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%27Tay%C3%BB_with_Phoenix_Robe%27,_anonymous_19th_century_Japanese_painting,_Honolulu_Academy_of_Arts.jpg">Honolulu Academy of Arts/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Japan between 794 and 1185, both men and women plucked their eyebrows out almost entirely and replaced them with new pencilled lines higher up on the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=9Z6vCGbf66YC&pg=PA120&dq=eyebrows+robyn+cosio&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiJ1uCXx-TkAhU0IbcAHSc3D_IQ6AEIPjAD#v=onepage&q&f=false">forehead</a>.</p>
<p>Eyebrows of Ancient Greece and Rome, on the other hand, are frozen in contemplation. </p>
<p>They are often represented in sculptures through expressive mounds devoid of individual or even vaguely suggested hairs: in men they are strong and masterful furrows above a purposeful gaze; in women, soft and emotive. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295560/original/file-20191004-118222-4xfro6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bronze portrait of a man from early first century with masterful furrows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This lack of detail demonstrates a fondness, in some corners of ancient Greek and Roman society, for joined or “continuous” brows. </p>
<p>Poet of tenderness, Theocritus, openly admired eyebrows “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=37MDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP9&dq=The+British+Poets,+including+Translations+in+One+Hundred+Volumes:+Theocritus&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw-fiWjoLlAhXBXisKHfPBC50Q6AEIMjAB#v=onepage&q=The%20British%20Poets%2C%20including%20Translations%20in%20One%20Hundred%20Volumes%3A%20Theocritus&f=false">joined over the nose</a>” like his own, as did Byzantine Isaac Porphyrogenitus. </p>
<h2>Brows as barometers</h2>
<p>For much of the 19th century, cosmetics for women were viewed with suspicion, principally as the province of actresses and prostitutes. This meant facial enhancement was subtle and eyebrows, though gently shaped, were kept relatively natural. </p>
<p>Despite this restraint, a certain amount of effort still went into cultivation. A newspaper <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/189261094?searchTerm=%22If%20a%20child%27s%20eyebrows%20threaten%22&searchLimits=">article</a> from 1871 suggested intervention during childhood to thicken them:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If a child’s eyebrows threaten to be thin, brush them softly every night with a little coconut oil, and they will gradually become strong and full; and, in order to give them a curve, press them gently between the thumb and forefinger after every ablution of the face or hands. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>As fashions became freer after the first world war, attention was once again focused more overtly on the eyes and eyebrows. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301505/original/file-20191113-77305-1jafapf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Louise Brooks’ high brow bob showed off her neck and her eyebrows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/252f8180-ff5d-012f-38ab-58d385a7bc34">New York Public Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This was partly to do with the development of beauty salons during the 1920s, many of which offered classes in makeup application so women could create new, bold looks at home. </p>
<p>The fashion for very thin eyebrows was popularised by silent film stars such as Buster Keaton and Louise Brooks, for whom thick kohl was a professional necessity and allowed a clearer vision of the eyebrows – so crucial, after all, for nonverbal expression on screen. </p>
<p>The amount of attention paid to eyebrows continued to change according to specific global events. </p>
<p>In the 1940s, women began to favour thicker, natural brows after several decades of rigorous plucking to achieve pencil-thin lines. Considering the outbreak of the second world war had forced many out of a wholly domestic existence and into the workforce, it stands to reason they had less time to spend in front of the mirror, wielding a pair of tweezers and eyebrow pencil. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295563/original/file-20191004-118222-1tliwfk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The natural look, circa 1943.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The post-war 1950s saw wide, yet more firmly defined brows and from the 1960s onwards various shapes, sizes and thicknesses were experimented with, accompanied by a firm emphasis on individuality and personal preference. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301670/original/file-20191113-77310-11rfw4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=929&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A brow beautician in a South Yarra salon in 1960.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/222938930?q=eyebrows&c=picture&versionId=244447695">Laurie Richards Studio/National Library of Australia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than mono</h2>
<p>When Dwight Edwards Marvin’s <a href="https://www.bartleby.com/346/14.html">collection</a> of adages and maxims, Curiosities in Proverbs, was published in 1916 it included the old English advice: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If your eyebrows meet across your nose, you’ll never live to wear your wedding clothes. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The “mono-” or “uni-brow” had become suggestive of a lack of self care, particularly in women. </p>
<p>Research undertaken in 2004 reported American women felt judged and evaluated as “dirty”, “gross” or even “repulsive” if they did not shave their underarm or leg hair, or pluck and shape their <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=y5Enl3JamIgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Embodied+Resistance:+Challenging+the+Norms,+Breaking+the+Rules,&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi54bWkjoLlAhVs7nMBHSOJCe8Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Embodied%20Resistance%3A%20Challenging%20the%20Norms%2C%20Breaking%20the%20Rules%2C&f=false">eyebrows</a>. As the most visible of these areas, untamed eyebrows perhaps point to the bravest exhibition of natural hair. </p>
<p>Today, model Sophia Hadjipanteli sports a pair of impressively large, dark joined eyebrows, and has assertively fought back against the legion of online trolls who have abused her for this point of difference. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301470/original/file-20191113-77338-2u31d2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Model Sophia Hadjipanteli and her distinctive brow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/sophiahadjipanteli/">Instagram</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A reference back to the distinctive brows of Frida Kahlo, Hadjipanteli’s look is linked to an ongoing debate surrounding women’s body hair. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301469/original/file-20191113-77326-q7f2uo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist Frida Kahlo and her famous monobrow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frida_Kahlo,_by_Guillermo_Kahlo.jpg">Guillermo Kahlo/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Giving a pluck</h2>
<p>For many, excessive plucking and shaping has become emblematic of the myriad requirements women are expected to comply with to satisfy restrictive societal beauty norms. </p>
<p>Still, plenty of people with eyebrows are dedicating time and money to their upkeep. In Australia, the personal waxing and nail salon industry has grown steadily over five years to be worth an estimated <a href="https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry-trends/specialised-market-research-reports/consumer-goods-services/personal-waxing-nail-salons.html">A$1.3 billion</a> and employ more than 20,000 people. </p>
<p>Over this time, social media has offered a diverse and changing menu of brow choices and displays. </p>
<p>One choice: the “eyebrow slit” – thin vertical cuts in eyebrow hair – has re-emerged online and in suburban high schools. It’s important to emphasise <em>re-emerged</em> because, with beauty as with clothing, what goes around comes around. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301683/original/file-20191114-77363-1x8k3a4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vanilla Ice, working the eyebrow slit since 1991.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/smashhitsmag/status/1019841015874715648">Smash Hits/Twitter</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The eyebrow slit was especially popular amongst hip hop artists in the 1990s, and draws appeal due to its flexibility: there are no firm rules as to the number or width of the slits, which originally were meant to suggest scarring from a recent fight or gangsta adventure. More recent converts have been accused of <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/eyebrow-cuts-cultural-appropriation">cultural appropriation</a>. </p>
<p>Some have experimented by replacing plain slits with other shapes, such as hearts or stars, though plucking or shaving brows into unusual shapes is – as we have seen – by no means new either. </p>
<h2>Facing the day</h2>
<p>If the popularity of recent trends is anything to go by, eyebrow fashion will remain on the lush side for some time.</p>
<p>The “<a href="http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8997240/Scouse-Brow-a-beginners-guide.html">Scouse</a>” brow (very thick, wide and angular eyebrows emphasised with highly defined dark pencil shapes: named after natives of Liverpool in the United Kingdom) is still trending. </p>
<p>The “Instagram eyebrow” (thick brows plucked and painted to create a gradient, going from light to very dark as the brow ends) is inescapable on the platform and beyond. Makeup for brows is therefore also likely to continue, providing a clear linear connection through nearly all the eyebrow ideals since ancient times. </p>
<p>The latest offering to those seeking a groomed look is “<a href="https://www.elle.com.au/beauty/eyebrow-lamination-22517">eyebrow lamination</a>”, a chemical treatment that uses keratin to straighten individual hairs - a kind of anti-perm for your brow. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/B4R-fgynQmr","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Those still searching for their eyebrow aesthetic may benefit from some wisdom shared by crime and society reporter Viola Rodgers in an 1898 edition of the San Francisco Call newspaper. </p>
<p>In a piece which ran alongside an interview with the man who had inspired Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer character, she advised that the appearance of one’s brow conveyed more than just their grooming <a href="https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC18981023.2.141.22&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1">habits</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>An arched eyebrow … is expressive of great sensibility … Heavy, thick eyebrows indicate a strong constitution and great physical endurance … Long, drooping eyebrows indicate an amiable disposition and faintly defined eyebrows placed high above the nose are signs of indolence and weakness. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Eyebrow slits? We can only imagine what Viola would think.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lydia Edwards does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Moulding eyebrows to make a statement is nothing new. A journey through history, across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States, shows some of the highs and lows of brow fashion.Lydia Edwards, Fashion historian, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1040962018-10-05T13:32:38Z2018-10-05T13:32:38ZFrida Kahlo to Rihanna: there’s a reason eye-catching brows are front and centre<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238916/original/file-20181002-85632-1pacqqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C102%2C586%2C508&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Frida Kahlo: self-portrait with Bonito.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Irina via Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is the subject of a major exhibition at London’s V&A museum, which has been running since July and <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/culture/inside-the-frida-kahlo-exhibition-at-the-v-a/2018061430221">tells the story of her life</a> through more than 200 artefacts and clothing. Among the items on display is the eyebrow pencil she used to accentuate the monobrow which – along with her instantly recognisable colourful costumes and the flowers with which she habitually dressed her hair – became her trademark, with which she stressed her indigenous heritage.</p>
<p>I am a specialist in Mexican studies, so Kahlo’s life and work are important to me. So too is the work of another famous Mexican woman of the period, María Félix. An unlikely friend of Kahlo’s, Félix was more conventionally glamorous, and was the biggest film star of Mexican cinema’s “golden age”. Her defined eyebrow arch and its predominance in her performances led me to consider the significance of the brow on screen. </p>
<p>As a Liverpool-based academic, my attention has also been drawn to the “Scousebrow” – a term bandied about on social media. It’s a product of the scripted reality show <a href="https://www.channel4.com/programmes/desperate-scousewives">Desperate Scousewives (2011-12)</a> and, shortlived as the series was, the term has lasted. A Scousebrow describes a brow that is arched, highly structured, tinted or drawn above the brow line, darker than the wearer’s natural hair colour and clearly artificial. This stylised look is not unique to the Scousebrow, but it has led to an unjustified level of abuse and mockery.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"141284202686578688"}"></div></p>
<p>Ironically, just as the <a href="https://brewsnbrows.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/where-did-scousebrow-originate/">Scousebrow</a> was being <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2074240/Kate-Middletons-Scouse-Brow-Why-Duchess-Cambridge-got-WAGs-eyebrows.html">ridiculed by the press</a>, model Cara Delevigne’s <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/beauty/hair/a9511/cara-delevingne-eyebrows-tutorial/">thick, groomed brows</a> were being <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/cara-delevingne-actress-july-2015-cover">celebrated as natural</a> by high-end fashion magazines. Just like Kahlo’s monobrow, Delevigne’s carefully cultivated brow is presented as “natural”, while the Scousebrow (like Félix’s) is erroneously read as “false”. So, when it comes to eyebrows, it seem that beauty is being defined by social class.</p>
<p>So, in April 2018 we launched the “<a href="https://brewsnbrows.wordpress.com/">Brews and Brows</a>” project, a collaboration between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, Edge Hill University and Manchester Metropolitan University which aimed to develop a new way of looking – and talking about – eyebrows. As people came into our Brow Booth, or had 3D scans done of their brows, multiple stories emerged about how people feel about their brows.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"989161744596598789"}"></div></p>
<p>There’s no doubt that brows are a big thing: last year the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/35cc5a98-00d2-11e6-99cb-83242733f755">Financial Times estimated</a> that the eyebrow “industry” in the UK was worth more than £20m – and, when Scottish comedian Gary Meikle recorded a vlog in September about his daughter’s obsession with her eyebrows and asked: “When did eyebrows become the most important part of a woman’s body?” it went viral. The vlog attracted more than 15m views (“three times the population of Scotland”, as one of his Twitter fans noted).</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1042102577951846401"}"></div></p>
<p>Meikle’s vlog is part of a wider conversation taking place around the brow that is gradually getting more attention beyond the beauty pages. It is also about a broader question about how women’s beauty is perceived and policed. </p>
<p>So it was interesting to see the reaction when British Vogue began to promote its September fashion" issue with Rihanna on the cover. Her skinny brows provoked an <a href="https://www.racked.com/2018/8/1/17640286/rihanna-skinny-brows-vogue">enormous debate</a> in the media. As a vocal advocate of black beauty, her skinny brows are a shift away from her “natural” fuller brows and a return to the artifice and thinness of the 1990s more associated with white actors, such as, Courtney Cox as Monica in Friends during its heyday. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1024897604591788032"}"></div></p>
<h2>Brows and brews</h2>
<p>The “Brow Booth” was modelled on a photography booth, where participants could sit in and tell us their brow stories individually or in pairs. Mothers interviewed daughters about their practices or shared what they learnt from one another. Friends prompted one another about funny stories from the past. We heard poignant stories of loss and pragmatic solutions to ageing (considerable hair growth in most men and thinning for women). One such story came from a woman fed up with plucking and grooming who got her brows micro-bladed (temporary tattoo) “to save on all that faffing around”. </p>
<p>From the men and women who have visited our “Brow Booth” we’ve heard stories of evolving fashion trends and practices, plucking and growing back, hair loss and surgical intervention. As one contributor said, “I used to check my mascara before I left the house, now it’s all about the eyebrows”. While we have gathered and analyse significant data, our project continues and the stories are still emerging. But the eyebrow is clearly a micro-detail that reveals much about how we feel about ourselves and an awareness of how we groom (or don’t groom) is read by others. Our findings support research into early human cultures about how our brows are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-evolutionary-advantage-of-having-eyebrows-94599">integral to us</a> as social beings – we use them to express emotion, recognition, belief or disbelief – but what is clear it that, within this evolutionary function, there are constant shifts and changes in what we like in a brow. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-evolutionary-advantage-of-having-eyebrows-94599">The evolutionary advantage of having eyebrows</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For some years now the “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/feb/27/power-brows-bold-eyebrows-perfect-instagram-five-steps">Instabrow</a>” has been in fashion – a well-tended, arched, clearly defined brow structured through carefully artistry and use of specialist products (which explains that £20m industry). And the brow has gradually evolved from thin to thick – although, who knows, Rihanna might change all that, such is her power as an “influencer”. </p>
<p>But what we are hearing through our research is how telling a detail the eyebrow can be and how it challenges assumptions about beauty. From Kahlo’s monobrow to the Instabrow to, perhaps, a return to the sculpted brow championed by Rihanna, fashions change – even if what we convey with our eyebrows doesn’t. So, to answer Meikle’s question: eyebrows have always been one of the most important parts of a woman’s body, even if we haven’t paid enough attention to them before. If you’ve never thought about your brows, you are one of very few – and if you’ve never talked about them, we are keen to listen and share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niamh Thornton's Brews and Brows project receives funding from the University of Liverpool discretionary fund and Liverpool John Moores University QR fund. She also receives support from the AHRC Student Cohort Fund and the ESRC via Methods North West and <a href="mailto:engage@Liverpool">engage@Liverpool</a>.</span></em></p>Monobrow, Instabrow, Scousebrow: here’s one facial feature that deserves more attention.Niamh Thornton, Reader in Latin American Studies, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/993282018-07-17T13:31:55Z2018-07-17T13:31:55ZFrom Love Island to HD brows, what you need to know about narcissism<p>The TV show of the summer, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-love-island-is-the-best-kept-guilty-secret-on-british-television-97409">Love Island</a>, is fascinating for many viewers – but especially so for personality psychologists. Mainly because the programme is a parade of rampant narcissism. Even if you can’t quite define it, you can sense it in several contestants’ preened, “perfected” and often utterly artificial appearances (think Megan) and their roaming, self-interested, and “gaslighting” <a href="https://theconversation.com/love-island-adam-shows-teenagers-how-not-to-treat-romantic-partners-98801">romantic behaviours</a> (think Adam).</p>
<p>In contemporary society, narcissism is all around us. The rise of “celebrity” culture, selfies, Instagram and Snapchat, all help to fuel an obsession with and celebration of self-promoting “icons” – like <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-did-the-kardashian-jenner-family-become-so-successful-a-psychologist-explains-92377">the Kardashians</a>.</p>
<p>Psychologists have studied narcissism since the turn of the 20th-century – and it’s a word many people are familiar with. It’s a personality trait <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088868316685018">defined by</a> entitlement and a belief that you are “special”. It also involves self-centredness, a need for admiration and recognition, and a casual, exploitative attitude towards friends and partners.</p>
<p>Narcissism exists on a spectrum, from low – which most people are – to very high, which makes up only a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3819488/Being-narcissist-wins-friends-not-long-Popularity-people-personality-trait-temporary.html">very small percentage of the population</a>. Like other personality traits, narcissism exists to a greater or lesser extent in all of us. And it’s found across <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656603000266">all ethnicities, cultures, and ages</a> – though it is typically seen at <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0038231">higher levels in men than women</a>.</p>
<h2>Narcissistic traits</h2>
<p>Contrary to what you might expect, <a href="https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84939566711&origin=resultslist&sort=plf-f&src=s&sid=0ad1bd2e1157b916ae4e6f71c832ad20&sot=autdocs&sdt=autdocs&sl=18&s=AU-ID%2835174438300%29&relpos=6&citeCnt=21&searchTerm=">there’s no link</a> between narcissism and talking about “me, me, me”. In fact, narcissism is more related to talking about friends – to suggest popularity. </p>
<p>Other hallmarks of narcissistic speech include the use of more <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009265661000084X">swear words and sexual language</a> – being unconventional and titillating. Narcissistic people may also be quite funny, as they use non-hostile, witty, cheery and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886910000358#!">self-enhancing humour to build relationships</a>. In short, they charm and disarm. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228004/original/file-20180717-44100-6eapom.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queen me.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most people might expect narcissism to be related to “peacocking” – wearing flashy or designer clothing and accessories, to catch the eye, impress others, and advertise wealth – <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550612461284">and indeed it is</a>. Research shows that both sexes high in the trait dress smartly, and are well-groomed. The end result is that we can often tell if someone is narcissistic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656608000901">just by looking at them</a>.</p>
<h2>How to spot it</h2>
<p>What might be less well known is that natural, physical manifestations of narcissism can also be spotted in our faces, according to some studies. It has even been suggested that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009265661100136X">women high in the trait tend to have sharper features</a>. And one recent study claimed that highly narcissistic people have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jopy.12396">thicker, denser eyebrows</a>. </p>
<p>Narcissistic traits, we are told, are also frequently seen more in people whose <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656611001127">faces have greater symmetry</a>, – which are typically more appealing. In this way then, it turns out that people often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656609002177">find narcissism quite attractive</a>. </p>
<p>Research has also found that narcissistic people seem to be charming and popular in the first instance and to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40869027_Why_Are_Narcissists_so_Charming_at_First_Sight_Decoding_the_Narcissism-Popularity_Link_at_Zero_Acquaintance">move in a self-assured manner</a>.</p>
<h2>The problem</h2>
<p>But a narcissistic person’s appealing veneer belies what goes on beneath. They are extroverted and open minded, yes, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691616666070">but disagreeable and low in honesty and humility</a>. They may be sociable, but they’re dominant – which has traditionally been considered a sexy but dangerous combination – <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1995-24993-001">at least in men</a>. </p>
<p>Highly narcissistic people exhibit a lot of negative behaviours, from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009265661000084X">skipping class more often</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886910005015">cheating in tests</a> and forming friendships based on <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/147470491201000303">what people have to offer and how attractive they are</a>. It’s a short-term approach to life, and love, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407506064204">focused on self-satisfaction</a>. The bottom line is that narcissistic people don’t make for great long-term romantic partners – and though there’s some evidence <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167209340904">change is possible</a>, it isn’t very likely.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228006/original/file-20180717-44073-kjxagf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Look how great we are’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The evidence is a little mixed, but narcissistic <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0265407506064204">men</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886915002524">women</a> may be <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167202287006">more likely to stray</a>, swap partners, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886909004619">or even steal someone’s else’s partner</a>, than work on an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886909004619">existing relationship</a>. </p>
<p>Narcissistic men and women alike have a <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2002-17391-007">game playing romantic style</a>. But research has shown that in heterosexual marriages, it’s the wife’s levels of narcissism – more so than the husband’s – that can have a substantial, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2015-27303-001">negative effect on marital satisfaction</a>.</p>
<p>The ease with which narcissistic people can form new relationships – using their first impression charm – and the novelty of another “conquest” holds considerable sway. This is especially true for narcissistic men, who <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911003011#b0125">aren’t even all that picky</a>.</p>
<p>But other than taking one more look at your potential Tinder date’s eyebrows before you swipe right, the reality is, you may find narcissistic people hard to avoid. These types of people are likely to “want” something from you – consider what that is. And if you have found yourself in a relationship or friendship with someone who’s narcissistic, try and set clear boundaries and be aware of the potential consequences.</p>
<p>And if you’re wondering where you sit on the scale, one of the tools psychologists use to measure narcissism is the Narcissistic Personality Inventory – you can see how you fare on it, and compare your score with others <a href="https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/NPI/">here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99328/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory Carter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent study found that highly narcissistic people have thicker, denser eyebrows.Gregory Carter, Lecturer in the School of Psychological and Social Sciences, York St John UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945992018-04-09T15:07:09Z2018-04-09T15:07:09ZThe evolutionary advantage of having eyebrows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213839/original/file-20180409-114105-nwnzll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The way we move our eyebrows can help us to communicate. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/beauty-close-up-eyebrows-eyes-206388/">Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eyebrows, we all have them, but what are they actually for? While eyebrows help to prevent debris, sweat, and water from falling into the eye socket, they serve another important function too – and it’s all to do with how they move and human connection.</p>
<p>We already know that our modern minds often reflect the ways our ancestors needed to work together to survive in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/spc3.12176">distant evolutionary past</a>. But it seems our anatomy reflects the importance of getting on with other people as well. As our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0528-0">new research</a> published in Nature Ecology and Evolution suggests, the ability to look either intimidating or friendly is reflected in our bones – at least where the shape of the skulls is concerned. </p>
<p>We all know that ancient species of humans, such as Neanderthals, looked a little bit different from us. But the most obvious difference is that archaic humans possessed a pronounced and very distinctive brow ridge which contrasts with our own flat and vertical foreheads. And for scientists, this difference between us and them has been the hardest to explain. It was even famously said that <a href="https://www.sapiens.org/column/animalia/human-hybridization-neanderthals-homo-sapiens/">Neanderthals would go unnoticed</a> on a New York subway if only they could wear something like a hat to cover this distinctive feature. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213616/original/file-20180406-129717-vofu54.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fossil modern human (left) and fossil Neanderthal crania (right).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But <a href="https://phys.org/news/2018-04-eyebrows-brows-human-evolution.html">our latest research</a> may have found an answer to explain why archaic humans had such a pronounced wedge of bone over their eyes (and why modern humans don’t). And it seems to be down to the fact that our <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/09/eyebrows-crucial-human-evolution-first-learnt-communicate/">highly movable eyebrows</a> can be used to express a wide range of subtle emotions – which could have played a crucial role in human survival.</p>
<h2>A sign of dominance</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1439-0310.1988.tb00211.x">Research</a> has already shown that humans today <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1535/3453.short">unconsciously raise their eyebrows</a> briefly when they see someone at a distance to show we are not a threat. And we also lift our eyebrows to show sympathy with others – a tendency noticed by <a href="http://rcin.org.pl/Content/1674/WA488_4313_185_Darwin-The-expresssion.pdf">Darwin in the 19th century</a>.</p>
<p>So with my colleagues Ricardo Godinho and Paul O'Higgins <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uoy-web040618.php">we looked at the iconic brow ridge</a> of a fossilised skull (known as Kabwe 1) to find out more about its purpose. Ricardo used 3D engineering software, to shave back Kabwe’s huge brow ridge. And in doing so, found that Kabwe 1’s heavy brow offered no spatial advantage.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213615/original/file-20180406-129724-ce2dwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=714&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Model of a modern human cranium (left) shown next to a model of an archaic human (Kabwe 1) (right)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The brow ridges in archaic humans also serve no obvious function in relation to chewing or other <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/04/05/neanderthals-capable-turbo-breathing-according-new-study-facial/">practical mechanics</a> – a theory commonly put forward to explain protruding brow ridges. As when the ridge was taken away there was no effect on the rest of the face when biting. This means that brow ridges in archaic humans must have had a social function – most likely used to display social dominance as is seen in other primates. </p>
<p>For our species losing the brow ridge probably meant looking less intimidating, but by developing flatter and more vertical foreheads our species could do something very unusual – move our eyebrows in all kinds of subtle and important ways. </p>
<p>Although the loss of the brow ridge may have initially been driven by changes in our brain or facial reduction, it subsequently allowed our eyebrows to make many different subtle and friendly gestures to people around us.</p>
<h2>Expressing emotions</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213617/original/file-20180406-5578-da7dgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of grief from The Expression of Emotions in Man in Animals, Charles Darwin (1872).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10840151">Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically speaking, these marked changes in the face occurred at a time when the emergence of important social changes began to take place. Mainly the collaboration between distantly related groups of humans.</p>
<p>This was a time when modern human groups <a href="https://www.openquaternary.com/articles/10.5334/oq.ai/">began to exchange gifts</a> across large regions. Being able to create distant friendships probably helped early humans to colonise new environments – as they had friends they could rely on and retreat back to. </p>
<p>Modern humans also lived in larger and more <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/331/6022/1286">diverse groups than previous species</a> reducing interbreeding. So the impact of friendly and mutually supportive relationships with people outside one’s own group were far reaching. And the development of mobile eyebrows may have been a key part of all these changes. </p>
<p>But these changes weren’t just exclusive to humans – the developments seen when wolves became domesticated are in some ways similar. Dogs have more waggy tails and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/dev.20082">flatter faces than wolves</a>. And dogs who are better able to look cuter by raising their brows are <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082686#pone.0082686-Gacsi1">more likely to be selected from shelters</a>. </p>
<p>It seems then that for humans (and dogs), being able to get along with others was key to survival. And for our ancestors, the evolution of the eyebrows performed an important function in expressing friendliness. All of which forms part of a process of “self-domestication” – where our human brains, bodies and even anatomy <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044201">reflects a drive</a> to get on better with those around us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penny Spikins receives funding from The John Templeton Foundation. </span></em></p>Having movable eyebrows – and evolving beyond the Neanderthal ridge – may have played a crucial role in early human survival.Penny Spikins, Senior Lecturer in the Archaeology of Human Origins, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.