title: Matplotlib appears to not use rcparams when plotting, particularly for text (e.g. titles are bold when default is not)
body: <p>I have an issue that matplotlib appears to not be following the rcparams.  This occurs particularly for text: annotations, axis labels, titles, etc.
  I will note that I am not running Seaborn at the same time (Seaborn is known to interfere with some matplotlib settings).</p>
  <p>I am using Python 3.7.10, matplotlib 3.3.4, and seaborn 0.11.1</p>
  <p>For instance, here is a simple plot statement.</p>
  <pre><code>plt.plot([1,2,3], [1,2,3])
  plt.title(&quot;Simple plot&quot;)
  </code></pre>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ypqhb.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/ypqhb.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>Notice that the plot title, as well as the numeric tick labels, all turn out bold.  If you look at examples online for matplotlib, they all have non-bold as the default.  If I display the contents of plt.rcParams, I get the following (see bottom of post).  Notice that the relevant items, e.g.,           'figure.titleweight': 'normal',  'font.weight': 'normal' are 'normal' rather than 'bold'.  Is there some other local setting it is using?</p>
  <p>I'm trying to get this to work without providing additional settings. The odd thing is that the default font face (DejaVu Sans), seems to not be responsive to changes in the font weight, such that if I enter the command</p>
  <pre><code>    plt.title(&quot;Simple plot&quot;, fontdict={'fontweight': 'normal', 'weight': 'normal', 'family': 'sans-serif'})
  </code></pre>
  <p>I get the same result.  But if I choose serif font, I get</p>
  <pre><code>    plt.title(&quot;Simple plot&quot;, fontdict={'fontweight': 'normal', 'weight': 'normal', 'family': 'serif'}) 
  </code></pre>
  <p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/EHvjI.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/EHvjI.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
  <p>Now, I want to get the result in sans-serif, but not bold, without additional parameters.  I also checked my matplotlibrc file, and there is nothing there that seems to override these defaults.  I also tried running plt.rcdefaults(), but it didn't help.  Where are these bold settings coming from?</p>
  <pre><code>   RcParams({'_internal.classic_mode': False,
            'agg.path.chunksize': 0,
            'animation.avconv_args': [],
            'animation.avconv_path': 'avconv',
            'animation.bitrate': -1,
            'animation.codec': 'h264',
            'animation.convert_args': [],
            'animation.convert_path': 'convert',
            'animation.embed_limit': 20.0,
            'animation.ffmpeg_args': [],
            'animation.ffmpeg_path': 'ffmpeg',
            'animation.frame_format': 'png',
            'animation.html': 'none',
            'animation.html_args': [],
            'animation.writer': 'ffmpeg',
            'axes.autolimit_mode': 'data',
            'axes.axisbelow': 'line',
            'axes.edgecolor': 'black',
            'axes.facecolor': 'white',
            'axes.formatter.limits': [-5, 6],
            'axes.formatter.min_exponent': 0,
            'axes.formatter.offset_threshold': 4,
            'axes.formatter.use_locale': False,
            'axes.formatter.use_mathtext': False,
            'axes.formatter.useoffset': True,
            'axes.grid': False,
            'axes.grid.axis': 'both',
            'axes.grid.which': 'major',
            'axes.labelcolor': 'black',
            'axes.labelpad': 4.0,
            'axes.labelsize': 'medium',
            'axes.labelweight': 'normal',
            'axes.linewidth': 0.8,
            'axes.prop_cycle': cycler('color', ['#1f77b4', '#ff7f0e', '#2ca02c', '#d62728', '#9467bd', '#8c564b', '#e377c2', '#7f7f7f', '#bcbd22', '#17becf']),
            'axes.spines.bottom': True,
            'axes.spines.left': True,
            'axes.spines.right': True,
            'axes.spines.top': True,
            'axes.titlecolor': 'auto',
            'axes.titlelocation': 'center',
            'axes.titlepad': 6.0,
            'axes.titlesize': 'large',
            'axes.titleweight': 'normal',
            'axes.titley': None,
            'axes.unicode_minus': True,
            'axes.xmargin': 0.05,
            'axes.ymargin': 0.05,
            'axes3d.grid': True,
            'backend': 'Qt5Agg',
            'backend_fallback': True,
            'boxplot.bootstrap': None,
            'boxplot.boxprops.color': 'black',
            'boxplot.boxprops.linestyle': '-',
            'boxplot.boxprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.capprops.color': 'black',
            'boxplot.capprops.linestyle': '-',
            'boxplot.capprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.flierprops.color': 'black',
            'boxplot.flierprops.linestyle': 'none',
            'boxplot.flierprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.flierprops.marker': 'o',
            'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgecolor': 'black',
            'boxplot.flierprops.markeredgewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.flierprops.markerfacecolor': 'none',
            'boxplot.flierprops.markersize': 6.0,
            'boxplot.meanline': False,
            'boxplot.meanprops.color': 'C2',
            'boxplot.meanprops.linestyle': '--',
            'boxplot.meanprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.meanprops.marker': '^',
            'boxplot.meanprops.markeredgecolor': 'C2',
            'boxplot.meanprops.markerfacecolor': 'C2',
            'boxplot.meanprops.markersize': 6.0,
            'boxplot.medianprops.color': 'C1',
            'boxplot.medianprops.linestyle': '-',
            'boxplot.medianprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.notch': False,
            'boxplot.patchartist': False,
            'boxplot.showbox': True,
            'boxplot.showcaps': True,
            'boxplot.showfliers': True,
            'boxplot.showmeans': False,
            'boxplot.vertical': True,
            'boxplot.whiskerprops.color': 'black',
            'boxplot.whiskerprops.linestyle': '-',
            'boxplot.whiskerprops.linewidth': 1.0,
            'boxplot.whiskers': 1.5,
            'contour.corner_mask': True,
            'contour.linewidth': None,
            'contour.negative_linestyle': 'dashed',
            'date.autoformatter.day': '%Y-%m-%d',
            'date.autoformatter.hour': '%m-%d %H',
            'date.autoformatter.microsecond': '%M:%S.%f',
            'date.autoformatter.minute': '%d %H:%M',
            'date.autoformatter.month': '%Y-%m',
            'date.autoformatter.second': '%H:%M:%S',
            'date.autoformatter.year': '%Y',
            'date.epoch': '1970-01-01T00:00:00',
            'docstring.hardcopy': False,
            'errorbar.capsize': 0.0,
            'figure.autolayout': False,
            'figure.constrained_layout.h_pad': 0.04167,
            'figure.constrained_layout.hspace': 0.02,
            'figure.constrained_layout.use': False,
            'figure.constrained_layout.w_pad': 0.04167,
            'figure.constrained_layout.wspace': 0.02,
            'figure.dpi': 100.0,
            'figure.edgecolor': 'white',
            'figure.facecolor': 'white',
            'figure.figsize': [6.4, 4.8],
            'figure.frameon': True,
            'figure.max_open_warning': 20,
            'figure.raise_window': True,
            'figure.subplot.bottom': 0.11,
            'figure.subplot.hspace': 0.2,
            'figure.subplot.left': 0.125,
            'figure.subplot.right': 0.9,
            'figure.subplot.top': 0.88,
            'figure.subplot.wspace': 0.2,
            'figure.titlesize': 'large',
            'figure.titleweight': 'normal',
            'font.cursive': ['Apple Chancery',
                             'Textile',
                             'Zapf Chancery',
                             'Sand',
                             'Script MT',
                             'Felipa',
                             'cursive'],
            'font.family': ['sans-serif'],
            'font.fantasy': ['Comic Neue',
                             'Comic Sans MS',
                             'Chicago',
                             'Charcoal',
                             'ImpactWestern',
                             'Humor Sans',
                             'xkcd',
                             'fantasy'],
            'font.monospace': ['DejaVu Sans Mono',
                               'Bitstream Vera Sans Mono',
                               'Computer Modern Typewriter',
                               'Andale Mono',
                               'Nimbus Mono L',
                               'Courier New',
                               'Courier',
                               'Fixed',
                               'Terminal',
                               'monospace'],
            'font.sans-serif': ['DejaVu Sans',
                                'Bitstream Vera Sans',
                                'Computer Modern Sans Serif',
                                'Lucida Grande',
                                'Verdana',
                                'Geneva',
                                'Lucid',
                                'Arial',
                                'Helvetica',
                                'Avant Garde',
                                'sans-serif'],
            'font.serif': ['DejaVu Serif',
                           'Bitstream Vera Serif',
                           'Computer Modern Roman',
                           'New Century Schoolbook',
                           'Century Schoolbook L',
                           'Utopia',
                           'ITC Bookman',
                           'Bookman',
                           'Nimbus Roman No9 L',
                           'Times New Roman',
                           'Times',
                           'Palatino',
                           'Charter',
                           'serif'],
            'font.size': 10.0,
            'font.stretch': 'normal',
            'font.style': 'normal',
            'font.variant': 'normal',
            'font.weight': 'normal',
            'grid.alpha': 1.0,
            'grid.color': '#b0b0b0',
            'grid.linestyle': '-',
            'grid.linewidth': 0.8,
            'hatch.color': 'black',
            'hatch.linewidth': 1.0,
            'hist.bins': 10,
            'image.aspect': 'equal',
            'image.cmap': 'viridis',
            'image.composite_image': True,
            'image.interpolation': 'antialiased',
            'image.lut': 256,
            'image.origin': 'upper',
            'image.resample': True,
            'interactive': True,
            'keymap.all_axes': ['a'],
            'keymap.back': ['left', 'c', 'backspace', 'MouseButton.BACK'],
            'keymap.copy': ['ctrl+c', 'cmd+c'],
            'keymap.forward': ['right', 'v', 'MouseButton.FORWARD'],
            'keymap.fullscreen': ['f', 'ctrl+f'],
            'keymap.grid': ['g'],
            'keymap.grid_minor': ['G'],
            'keymap.help': ['f1'],
            'keymap.home': ['h', 'r', 'home'],
            'keymap.pan': ['p'],
            'keymap.quit': ['ctrl+w', 'cmd+w', 'q'],
            'keymap.quit_all': [],
            'keymap.save': ['s', 'ctrl+s'],
            'keymap.xscale': ['k', 'L'],
            'keymap.yscale': ['l'],
            'keymap.zoom': ['o'],
            'legend.borderaxespad': 0.5,
            'legend.borderpad': 0.4,
            'legend.columnspacing': 2.0,
            'legend.edgecolor': '0.8',
            'legend.facecolor': 'inherit',
            'legend.fancybox': True,
            'legend.fontsize': 'medium',
            'legend.framealpha': 0.8,
            'legend.frameon': True,
            'legend.handleheight': 0.7,
            'legend.handlelength': 2.0,
            'legend.handletextpad': 0.8,
            'legend.labelspacing': 0.5,
            'legend.loc': 'best',
            'legend.markerscale': 1.0,
            'legend.numpoints': 1,
            'legend.scatterpoints': 1,
            'legend.shadow': False,
            'legend.title_fontsize': None,
            'lines.antialiased': True,
            'lines.color': 'C0',
            'lines.dash_capstyle': 'butt',
            'lines.dash_joinstyle': 'round',
            'lines.dashdot_pattern': [6.4, 1.6, 1.0, 1.6],
            'lines.dashed_pattern': [3.7, 1.6],
            'lines.dotted_pattern': [1.0, 1.65],
            'lines.linestyle': '-',
            'lines.linewidth': 1.5,
            'lines.marker': 'None',
            'lines.markeredgecolor': 'auto',
            'lines.markeredgewidth': 1.0,
            'lines.markerfacecolor': 'auto',
            'lines.markersize': 6.0,
            'lines.scale_dashes': True,
            'lines.solid_capstyle': 'projecting',
            'lines.solid_joinstyle': 'round',
            'markers.fillstyle': 'full',
            'mathtext.bf': 'sans:bold',
            'mathtext.cal': 'cursive',
            'mathtext.default': 'it',
            'mathtext.fallback': 'cm',
            'mathtext.fallback_to_cm': None,
            'mathtext.fontset': 'dejavusans',
            'mathtext.it': 'sans:italic',
            'mathtext.rm': 'sans',
            'mathtext.sf': 'sans',
            'mathtext.tt': 'monospace',
            'mpl_toolkits.legacy_colorbar': True,
            'patch.antialiased': True,
            'patch.edgecolor': 'black',
            'patch.facecolor': 'C0',
            'patch.force_edgecolor': False,
            'patch.linewidth': 1.0,
            'path.effects': [],
            'path.simplify': True,
            'path.simplify_threshold': 0.111111111111,
            'path.sketch': None,
            'path.snap': True,
            'pcolor.shading': 'flat',
            'pdf.compression': 6,
            'pdf.fonttype': 3,
            'pdf.inheritcolor': False,
            'pdf.use14corefonts': False,
            'pgf.preamble': '',
            'pgf.rcfonts': True,
            'pgf.texsystem': 'xelatex',
            'polaraxes.grid': True,
            'ps.distiller.res': 6000,
            'ps.fonttype': 3,
            'ps.papersize': 'letter',
            'ps.useafm': False,
            'ps.usedistiller': None,
            'savefig.bbox': None,
            'savefig.directory': 'C:/Users/002060756/Downloads',
            'savefig.dpi': 'figure',
            'savefig.edgecolor': 'auto',
            'savefig.facecolor': 'auto',
            'savefig.format': 'png',
            'savefig.jpeg_quality': 95,
            'savefig.orientation': 'portrait',
            'savefig.pad_inches': 0.1,
            'savefig.transparent': False,
            'scatter.edgecolors': 'face',
            'scatter.marker': 'o',
            'svg.fonttype': 'path',
            'svg.hashsalt': None,
            'svg.image_inline': True,
            'text.antialiased': True,
            'text.color': 'black',
            'text.hinting': 'force_autohint',
            'text.hinting_factor': 8,
            'text.kerning_factor': 0,
            'text.latex.preamble': '',
            'text.latex.preview': False,
            'text.usetex': False,
            'timezone': 'UTC',
            'tk.window_focus': False,
            'toolbar': 'toolbar2',
            'webagg.address': '127.0.0.1',
            'webagg.open_in_browser': True,
            'webagg.port': 8988,
            'webagg.port_retries': 50,
            'xaxis.labellocation': 'center',
            'xtick.alignment': 'center',
            'xtick.bottom': True,
            'xtick.color': 'black',
            'xtick.direction': 'out',
            'xtick.labelbottom': True,
            'xtick.labelsize': 'medium',
            'xtick.labeltop': False,
            'xtick.major.bottom': True,
            'xtick.major.pad': 3.5,
            'xtick.major.size': 3.5,
            'xtick.major.top': True,
            'xtick.major.width': 0.8,
            'xtick.minor.bottom': True,
            'xtick.minor.pad': 3.4,
            'xtick.minor.size': 2.0,
            'xtick.minor.top': True,
            'xtick.minor.visible': False,
            'xtick.minor.width': 0.6,
            'xtick.top': False,
            'yaxis.labellocation': 'center',
            'ytick.alignment': 'center_baseline',
            'ytick.color': 'black',
            'ytick.direction': 'out',
            'ytick.labelleft': True,
            'ytick.labelright': False,
            'ytick.labelsize': 'medium',
            'ytick.left': True,
            'ytick.major.left': True,
            'ytick.major.pad': 3.5,
            'ytick.major.right': True,
            'ytick.major.size': 3.5,
            'ytick.major.width': 0.8,
            'ytick.minor.left': True,
            'ytick.minor.pad': 3.4,
            'ytick.minor.right': True,
            'ytick.minor.size': 2.0,
            'ytick.minor.visible': False,
            'ytick.minor.width': 0.6,
            'ytick.right': False})
  </code></pre>