Defining Face

Embarrassing acts are part of human growth and every day life. Whether they occur in public or in private, to yourself, to your friends, or even to strangers, they are bound to happen. The main reason why some actions may be considered as embarrassing or get the feeling of embarrassment is due to an innate characteristic that not all of us even notice or realize we have: face. This is not literally referring to your physical superficial face--your nose, your eyes, or your mouth.
It is a symbolic face that we refer to when we commonly hear people saying that they are trying to "save face" or when someone has "lost face". To be clear, they are not talking about someone literally losing their face or trying to save it in a vault.

This face is an image or characteristics that we impose or present through our interactions with other people. Protecting this face is what helps us produce relationships and exist in society. This is something that we define and claim for ourselves, even if we don't consciously realize it. Face is an image that is social as well as public. It does not refer to how you value or think about yourself, but rather what is revealed to others through your action, it's what you want them to see and know. Technically, it's your ability to play a role in society, which can vary depending on who you're interacting with. Face is public and social because it's able to be observed by both people who are close to you, as well as complete strangers. It's public because face is seen in observable actions, and it's social in that it involves the actions of all the people involved, not just yourself. Because we're so emotionally invested in face, when an action threatens or distorts the face that we wanted to present, the result is the feeling of embarrassment