Humanities & Cultures

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Human society and cultural news, studies, and other things of that nature. From linguistics to philosophy to religion to anthropology, if it's an academic discipline you can most likely put it here.

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Have you noticed that everyone’s teeth are a little too perfect? (www.washingtonpost.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Nothing inherently wrong with an individual getting veneers or cosmetic surgery, but I really liked this article and its discussion of some of the things that have been on my mind lately as I start to age and reconsider how much I’ve been affected by social ideas around how we’re supposed to look (and as my teeth become slowly more tea-tinted).

“These perfect, inhuman teeth embody a phenomenon that I am calling “hotness creep.” Hotness here is emphatically not about beauty — which is rooted in nature and often results from an unexpectedly pleasing assembly of imperfections — and it’s not about being sexy: messy, raw and alive. Hotness, by this definition, cannot be achieved through regular means, e.g. a combination of genetic luck, fitness and nutrition; hotness here must be bought and rigorously maintained through laborious, expensive and possibly dangerous upkeep“

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I didn't make it through the entire article before it was asking to subscribe, but I got the gist.

On the civilian side of things, I grew up with a mother who was obsessed with teeth. She believed that her naturally straight teeth (genetic lottery) and my naturally jacked up teeth would have people believing we weren't related.

Too bad for her we were broke hillbillies so... I only had braces for about 2 years on my top teeth. I wore my retainers after that for as long as possible (I kept chewing through them), and finally after 8 years I said screw it.

The orthodontist was the town dentist and he cut corners like crazy. It turned out fine and fixed the snaggletooth...

BUT! From age 7 until 14 or 15 my mother would not let me smile with my teeth. If I laughed in public she would make a face and say something about my "ugly mouth".

I am of the opinion, especially since I moved from NA to Europe, that braces should be covered by health plans. Either everyone should have the opportunity, or we need to stop judging. I don't think we can do the latter. 99% of my students have perfect teeth, and the 1% who do not clearly struggle with this detail.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's some wild narcissist shit "don't show that you are happy because you will make me look bad"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I handled it pretty well. My brother was very precocious and might be referred to as "gifted" today. He had it all figured out by 6 and let me in on what to expect. I was mostly amused because I would look at him and he would give me an "I told you so" look.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

My teeth sucked, too. If I could have had them fixed as a kid it would have saved me decades of jaw pain and cracked teeth.