Don't tell me to smile!!

You're walking down the street, minding your own business and as you pass people going the opposite way a single word reaches your ears... ‘Smile’.

It's like a drive-by. Your head whips around and you wonder if the word was directed at you. The man who has said it to you smirks and says it again. ‘Smile, love’.

You are caught off guard and instead of saying anything you scowl and continue on your way.

This happened to me over and over for years before I found out it was a thing. A thing said to women who weren’t smiling like a lunatic all the time. A thing said to women who were wandering down the street, doing what they wanted and not smiling (i.e., just acting like normal people.)

It pissed me off!

It pissed me off because I am not here to look nice for you, to make you feel happy or to be a happy ornament.

I am also not displaying what the internet calls ‘resting bitch face’. My face isn’t in resting bitch face form. It is just my normal face.

It's the face I use for contemplation, and for everyday activities such as typing on my computer, riding the bus or walking to the store.

When I smile it is because I have made a conscious decision to do so. Because I am amused, or happy or in an enjoyable situation. I do not smile for any arsehole walking down the street that thinks I would look better if I was more cheerful.

Unless I am posing for a photograph with a group of friends DO NOT tell me to ‘smile’!!!

The problem with being told to smile (drive-by style on the street) is that I'm not witty enough to think of a comeback right away, or it is said to me so casually that I am thrown off. I admire the women who are full of witty comebacks and are ready to go at a moments notice. I want to be like that too!

I was considering this problem a little while ago and I started sketching little sayings that I would like to say, things like 'I'm not yours', 'You'll be unlucky if you say that again' and 'Don't be a prick'. While considering which were the best to use, I thought to myself 'What if they were a physical thing? A reminder I could carry with me every day. A bright and shiny "FUCK OFF!!!!"

So I made them! Surrounded with gold, pierced with a stiletto and ready to tell the world exactly where to go!

Which pin do you need?

 xo Tasha xo

Jubly-Umph

ps. yoiu can view all the sassy enamel lapel pins here