A Brief History of the Smile (Pgs 31-72)

Summary:
In these pages, I am introduced to Lewdness (rude grinning) and Desire (the coy smile, lipstick). In the section if lewdness, Angus mentioned a group of similar Netherlandish paintings of boys with hens that were understood as a rude joke. In this painting the boy is shown as putting his hand inside the hen's private parts to see is there was an egg on the way. Since back then men have been making sexual connections with jokes that are not intended to do this in the first place. He also mentioned an ornament of a naked female which is known as the sheela. The sheela either gestured with both hands to her exposed genitals, or else had her legs wide apart, thus exposing her vulva as prominently as possible. The sheela is smiling but people that look at it cannot interpret the meaning of it. In the next chapter, he explains how every smile has only one thing is common. That is the chemical reaction that it causes in the brain. He explains how each muscle of our face works with one another to form the smile. Later, he mentions the lipstick and how there are women that feel undressed if they do not wear any. The lipstick serves as a way to enhance the smile together with other cosmetic materials. He also mentions the geisha and how they used the practice of ohaguro, which meant painting their teeth black. There are different explanations on how ohaguro originated. One of them is that it was first adopted in the households of samurai warriors to protect their wives and daughters from being kidnapped.

Quote:
" Even a particular joke will stimulate a wide variety of smiles from one of genuine hilarity all the way down to the generous smile by which you attempt to disguise the fact that you have heard it a hundred times before, or that you do not find it remotely funny, or that you just do not get it " (Trumble 51).

Reaction:
I automatically laughed when I read this quote because it shows the situation between students and teachers. Most of the jokes that teachers made are really dry (no offense) and students laugh just to make them feel better and not make the situation awkward. Not only this but I felt a connection with it since most of the time I do not get the jokes, at first I laugh because people laugh but then I ask about it because I just simply do not get it. People have told me that I always ruin the joke by not getting it because when they explain it to me I just do not find it funny. But what can I do I have a picky sense of humor.