The Imperial FROWN :
from 100 AD to the 21st C.
from 100 AD to the 21st C.
THE KEY CONCEPT : There is a long tradition of depicting male authority figures with a scowl as a way to project power and aggression. |
Figure 1: Churchill's bellicose scowl as captured by Yousuf Karsh during the dark days of WWII.
Emperors do it. CEOs do it. Politicians do it. Even, school mascots do it : they are all depicted knitting their brows in the Imperial Frown. Image makers for thousands of years have exploited the expressive power of scowling foreheads above an otherwise neutral face to create a sense of combativeness, authority, and stern self-possession, without escalating to out-and-out anger, which would require the addition of a frowning mouth. The Imperial Frown is an expression that never seems to go out of style, and it’s one that we associate with men rather than women, perhaps because, up until recently, the ranks of monarchs, prime ministers, and mercenaries were so overwhelmingly male.
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