Rosie O'Donnell shames Sen. Patty Murray for frowning during shutdown vote
Rosie O’Donnell wants to know why Patty Murray, the senator from Washington, “is always frowning” — and the internet has answers.
The actress, who was seemingly watching TV coverage of the government shutdown vote on Monday, spotted Murray, who has been in office since 1992, and tweeted a screenshot of the legislator without a smile on her face.
who is that woman and why is she always frowning pic.twitter.com/rKywMfsnwC
— ROSIE (@Rosie) January 22, 2018
Social media quickly came to O’Donnell with feedback.
Who is she? Her name is Patty Murray, the third most senior Democrat in the Senate and a “badass” who “cares about women.”
Patty Murray my Senator. Washington's first female U.S. senator. She is currently the 3rd most senior Democrat.
— Allen Minner (@AllenMinner) January 22, 2018
She's my Senator. @PattyMurray. She's the one that was (is?) working on the bi-partisan fix for the #ACA. (Alexander-Murray). She's been getting elected since the early 90s in WA state. Started her campaign as 'normal mom in tennis shoes'.
— Jennifer from Seattle (@SeattleJen42) January 22, 2018
She's an awesome legislator and cares about women. @PattyMurray
— Susan Murphy (@susanmurphy113) January 22, 2018
That’s the Senator from Washington Patty Murray. She’s a badass!
— trico (@toyarico) January 22, 2018
She was first dismissed by her Representative as, “JUST a mom in tennis shoes”-nonetheless, she persisted all the way to the Senate!
— Blue (@Dotdogz) January 22, 2018
And why is she frowning? Well, according to Twitter user Marc, she’s “tired of this s***.”
That’s Patty Murray.
Patty is tired of this shit.
— Marc (@MostlyMarky) January 22, 2018
She’s had enough of their crap
— Raquel Ruiz (@Rruiz321) January 22, 2018
What's there to smile about in that house of horrors? Senator @PattyMurray keeping it real right here! ????♀?
— Teresa Barnett RN (@oigmig) January 22, 2018
That is my senator from Washington State, Patty Murray
Should anyone be smiling at any of this?— Korey Peterson (@koreydai) January 22, 2018
She is America
— BrunoGotez (@iSenseChange) January 22, 2018
Many people also called out O’Donnell for not only not knowing who Murray was but shaming her for her appearance.
Women don't need to always SMILE. We aren't decoration for your world. #feminism #dowhatiwant #Smile #women #WomenEmpowerment #youarentthebossofme
— Lyz Lindenburg (@LuckyLyzzie) January 22, 2018
Yes exactly. @Rosie stop calling out women for how they look.
— Grateful Canadian (@RubysophiaLeon) January 22, 2018
Hey Rosie, that's Patty Murray, a dedicated democratic senator who has served for a very long time. you think it's ok to make fun of her? shame on you, Rosie. Tearing down other women isn't funny. Tearing down someone on your side is absolutely IDIOTIC.
— Brandine Spuckler (@ladycletus) January 22, 2018
Resting bitch face (RBF), or as Murray’s expression was referred to on Twitter, “resting frowny face,” is something that many women have been stigmatized over, with celebrities like Anna Kendrick, Kristen Stewart, and Queen Elizabeth being frequent targets.
However, it’s more than just an internet phenomenon, according to a 2015 study. Scientists Abbe Macbeth and Jason Rogers used facial recognition software on more than 10,000 images to recognize basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust, contempt, and neutral.
When judging expressionless faces to get a baseline, the most common term associated was neutral. Then the researchers tested the faces of well-known public figures with RBF and the average level of emotion doubled from 3 percent to 6 percent.
“The big change in percentage came from ‘contempt,’” Macbeth said, suggesting that “it’s kind of a tightening around the eyes, and a little bit of raising of the corners of the lips — but not into a smile” that makes the software interpret a neutral expression as seemingly throwing shade. According to Rogers: “Although that [RBF] face may not be intentional, the viewer’s brain is wired to analyze, and recognize, when a face is displaying even minute traces of contempt.”
And it’s not hard to guess why Murray’s face would might suggest contempt — her tweets make it perfectly clear:
This has been a year of chaos and dysfunction. Of bullying and attacks. Of hatred, division, controversy, and crises.#TrumpShutdown
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) January 22, 2018
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