Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the first female politician to be criticised for not smiling on command.

Appearing in public without a rictus grin plastered to her face was one of the jibes hurled most frequently at Hillary Clinton. During the 2016 presidential elections, commentator Rence Preibus wrote on Twitter that Clinton was “angry + defensive the entire time [at a recent event] - no smile and uncomfortable - upset that she was caught wrongly sending our secrets.”

Comedian Chelsea Handler hit back at Priebus on her Netflix show Chelsea Does Online: “Who the f**k are you to tell someone to smile? This is just another example of how men feel like they can belittle every woman in the world and order up a smile. It’s not just Hillary; they tell actresses to smile, they tell female athletes to smile… even paintings aren’t safe.”

“So here’s my message to all men,” Handler concluded. “Stop telling women to smile. We don’t like that - it’s not an icebreaker, it’s a dealbreaker. And what is your game plan anyway? Do you think we’re gonna go smile and then magically float onto your penis? It doesn’t work that way. Do you know how sexist that is to say that to us? No one ever tells a man to smile. Try it. Go tell Samuel L Jackson to turn that front upside down.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s powerful message to people telling her to smile