Thursday, December 19, 2013

On smiling and privilege

  Good morning, everyone! Today I thought I'd discuss an often unaddressed accessory in personal style: the smile!
  A blogger I follow* recently wrote a piece called The Fingerprints of Poverty that I found meaningful.
It was that piece, and some friends of mine who grew up in poverty and shared their experiences with me that made me realize that I am solidly middle class, and one of the things that marks me as American middle class is my teeth.

*Incidentally, fans of Steampunk, you should check her out. She's an author of Steampunk books and posts on old-fashioned style.

  I grew up raised by my father in a single income home. There were a lot of struggles for money growing up, but we were above the poverty line, there was food to eat every day, and I always had a roof over my head.

  Then there was the issue of our teeth.

  My teeth hate life. I brush. I floss. I rinse with fluoride. They came in covered in grooves and deep natural pits, and they cheerfully do their best to rot out of my head.
  Japanese people in general have a combination of small jaws and huge teeth.  The reason is grinding large grains and other hard foods in our collective history caused bone growth and would have made jaws larger to fit those teeth, but eating refined foods, a very recent luxury, has stopped that, while leaving our teeth the same size.

  An example of the long faces that run in my family:
  By the time my twelve-year molars showed up (at sixteen. sigh.) at the same time as my wisdom teeth, there was no room left in my mouth, so they came in at the curve of my jaw, pointing down onto my other teeth. The wisdom teeth were impacted and couldn't come in at all, so all of my teeth started shifting out of alignment with the pressure. My brother has one tooth that came in at 90 degrees to the rest, and a baby tooth that couldn't fall out for years because it was jammed in so tightly with its neighbors.

  My father paid for extensive orthodontic and dental work for one of us, and it was me. At the time, I could not for the life of me imagine why, except that my teeth were the worst in the family. Why did I have to get braces? Why didn't we just take the teeth that didn't fit out? Why couldn't my teeth just stay crooked? I could chew fine.

  Furthermore, we couldn't actually afford it. My father made that exceedingly clear, because he always talked to me about his financial woes.  I didn't figure out until about a year ago that it's because I'm the female child.

  I don't think my father even consciously thought of it that way; growing up, there was never a point made of my sex or different treatment that I noticed. But there are little things my father offered that imply he realized, however unconsciously, long before I did, that being pretty counts for more when you're female. I was the one who got braces. He even offered to pay for microdermabrasion for my acne scars when I grew up. (Again, can't. afford. it! Crazy.)

  I think we're still very influenced by the idea that women, especially in families that aren't wealthy, marry up. You may have read in evolutionary psychology books like The Red Queen**, that sons are traditionally more valuable to rich families because they can produce more offspring than a daughter, while daughters in poor families have better chances than sons if they're attractive because being able to provide resources doesn't matter as much when you're a woman.

** No links in this post are sponsored, this is just one of my favorite books

  And of course as an adult, I realize one of the American middle class hallmarks is even, straight teeth. It's something so common around me that I never questioned it until I traveled abroad and realized other countries don't bother with it nearly so much. Japan even puts a value on the snaggletooth that you don't see here.

  So here I am, middle class, boosted up by my father in the hopes that I will do better, except the concept of "do better" is exceedingly vague. I don't know what I'm expected to do, except be good at college. Communication in my family is something of a weak point.

  Lately I've been contemplating privilege more, and of course, teeth. I think about how much money went into making me more attractive before I was old enough to realize what attractive was. I still wear my Hawley retainer at night, and I'm fascinated by those new Invisalign deals they have now. Ah, the memories of all the scar tissue in my mouth from braces! People now might not have to deal with that, which delights me.

Did any of you wear braces or headgear? What are other things you can think of that are markers of class?.

21 comments:

  1. Great post. America does put more value on perfect teeth than Europe, for example. And that girls should get their teeth fixed more than boys - well, yes, economically. But fascinating.

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  2. Next to well-groomed hair, straight teeth are so important for success in the corporate world.

    I had braces as an adult but didn't have to wear headgear. I paid for my treatment and it was one of the best investments (in myself) in addition to a college education.

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  3. Great post Aya. I thought perhaps this post might be a discourse on how teeth are getting 'magically' whiter and whiter. :) I had braces when I was young. Similar scenario, too much tooth for the mouth. I had four teeth removed to create enough room for the other teeth to grow in. In my early twenties, I had my buried wisdom teeth removed. And I wonder why I'm anxious about going to the dentist? I wore a retainer for years. One of the benefits of orthodontic care beyond beauty is that misaligned, or crowded teeth can reek havoc on the jaw, and all the muscles and bones in the head, which can throw off the spinal alignment, which can...you see where I'm going with this. So hopefully in your case, some serious discomfort has been avoided. Very interesting subject!

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    1. Ooh, good to know, thanks Sue. I was born without C1, the topmost cervical vertebrae, so that might have led to even further complications.

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  4. My parents came from working-class backgrounds with immigrant East European parents, and my mother was very invested in achieving middle-class status and performing it (to use the academic jargon). I am the older of two girls and was considered the "weird" one, whereas my sister was thought of as the "normal" one. Both of us had moderately problematic teeth, but our parents could afford orthodonture for only one of us, and my sister got it. I'd never thought much about it before, but your post made me wonder about the reason for their choice. Did they think she was closer to the mainstream and so could benefit from it more?

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  5. Aya, this was a wonderful post and I can relate so much to it. We were the same, had food, roof over our heads, clothes, etc. But I was the only one who got braces. There was something wrong with my jaw as well. I had to have surgery at 8 to remove extra teeth and a cyst, then I had a spacer, braces, and a retainer. My teeth also took a long time to show up. When i was 18, my wisdom teeth came in sideways, pushing my molars and the rest of my teeth crooked. At 23, I had to get braces again, this time I had to pay for them. My brothers were supposed to get braces, but after watching me scream and cry every other night because the spacer hurt, and then not being able to eat candy, etc. They refused. My dad was so broke, and didn't want to fight with them, so he didn't push it. One of my brothers is a marine and can get braced for free, and he still won't do it (crazy!).

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    1. Ugh, spacers sound terrible! I have a friend who wore one for TMJ and it made her cry spontaneously in public, the pain was so bad.

      My brother probably refused orthodontic work after seeing my mouth get torn up and how I was unable to eat solid foods for weeks at a time.

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  6. In one sense I won the genetic lottery, because I have naturally straight teeth. But I also lost the lottery for strong enamel, which means that I develop cavities and stains (despite not drinking any beverage besides water) at the drop of a hat.

    Growing up, I was also in a privileged-poverty household--3 people on one grad-student stipend, but I always had a stable home, food, and clothes. And now, I definitely "perform" middle-class status through fashion and style; I derive a lot of self-satisfaction from how I present myself and "invest" in my appearance, which is absolutely tied to my class status.

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    1. It's so interesting, the difference between consciously appreciating what you work for and what is given. I'll bet you dress more nicely and with more thought than many who were born in wealthier households.

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  7. I love smart posts about society and this one hits the mark. Teeth are a marker of class and class is the unspoken determinant in our lives. Your family's story is fascinating.

    My immigrant parents went into debt to put braces on my teeth. Back then, braces were metal and horribly painful. My cries went unheeded by my parents who wanted me to "look normal".

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    1. I was so grateful I was born in a time when I didn't have to get metal bands around all of my teeth, just some of them. It still grosses people out when I tell them the scar tissue in my mouth was so tough it could catch loose wires and snag without tearing.

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  8. I had never thought about teeth as a political issue before, but I suppose all things connected with both health and appearance/cosmetic issues have a class/political dimension. Perfect teeth aren't such an obsession here in the UK (just think of the Austin Powers piss take of British teeth!) Is there an underlying assumption at work here that says perfect, straight, white teeth are attractive, and anything else isn't? I have what would doubtless be considered very ugly teeth by American standards - an overbite, big gap in the front, and misshapen where I chipped them falling off my bike as a kid. But they're strong, I didn't have a filling until I was in my 40s! I was never offered braces (a retainer) as a child (it would have been free then; we pay for orthodontics for kids here too now.) I spent many years feeling self-conscious about them, and still am to some degree, but do I feel they make me unattractive or ugly? Have my poor old teeth prevented me having friends and partners, or achieving academic and professional success? No! The idea that non-perfect teeth would prevent someone being successful in life seems bizarre to me.
    What a very interesting discussion, thank you, Aya. xxxx

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    1. I don't know what the assumption in the US is exactly, but I have heard people with non-straightened teeth talk about being self-conscious. It strikes me as something that people might be more self-conscious of here than in Europe or Asia.

      I admire your strong teeth! I have no idea what that is like. :D

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  9. I have straight teeth and so had to need to wear braces. But I have very weak enamel and my teeth have been prone to cavities since childhood. Lucky for me, at that time we still lived in the USSR and medicine service, including dentists, was free. Otherwise I am afraid I would have been without teeth by now, as my parents were pretty poor and would not have been able to afford a dentist.

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  10. Very interesting post, and I need to go back and look at your links. My whole family had straight teeth, so no braces (Danish ancestors on both sides - big mouths?). But I've got yellowish enamel, fillings in almost all my teeth and several crowns. And I still have a baby tooth!

    My British husband has got an interesting arrangement of lower teeth. I'm sure if he'd been raised in the US they would have been straightened.

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  11. One of my three sisters had braces when we were children, I ended up paying for my own braces at age 38 when my dentist recommending straightening my teeth so I could floss better and avoid the abscesses I had been getting. I am glad I did it but it wasn't fun, though now a days they have better techniques.

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  12. This was a really interesting read my dear! So much that goes into things of family, beauty, class, etc. that we fail to usually think of. I knocked my front teeth out in an accident when I was young, so mine are fake there!
    -Jamie
    ChatterBlossom

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  13. I went through the whole build up to braces - getting the molds, the xrays, etc. But when it came down to bone and metal, I just couldn't do it. I didn't want my face to look different or reshaped, I didn't want the pain, and constant need to continue wearing a retainer, and my mom who went through extensive dentistry, her teeth went right back to being crooked.

    So I just deal with my less-than straight teeth. I think it gives a bit of character.

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  14. Wow! Great post, as are the comments.
    I'm similar to Megan -- got molds + xrays, baby teeth pulled. Deal breaker for me was that I would have had to wear night gear with the braces and I said no. So I have a snaggle tooth (I'll be big in Japan!). I also have bad teeth and all my wisdom teeth (huge fear of dentist, no insurance). In my mind, I come from someplace not the US.
    My sister DID get braces (as Sue above, she was normal, I am weird). I don't know if it made any difference for her. My two brothers didn't -- not sure if they didn't need them or if it was the male/female issue. So interesting!

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    1. It's so interesting that you and Sue mention the social dynamic when it comes down to choosing which child gets treatment. I'm definitely the weird one, too. There's just a gender difference in there as well.

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  15. Aya, you delight me with your thought-provoking posts, even as I run my tongue over my own once-upon-a-time-braces-aligned teeth. I had the terrific misfortune of wearing braces - in the early 80s - from age 16 to 20. Back in the day, retainers were only worn for a year or so, so they pretty much went back to their original overbite. I wish I'd known my folks were simply trying to marry me off. Perhaps they did too well - I'm on my, er, third marriage. And still broke :P

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