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“
This rubs me the wrong way given that very many people need orthodontia for medical reasons, because their bite would otherwise be so wonky it leads to pain, or to extreme wear on the teeth that can lead to losing them. When orthodontists correct a medical bite issue like this, they straighten out the teeth, too - maybe more than is necessary, sure, but it’s generally better to overshoot and be sure the pain or cause of damage is fixed rather than not doing enough.
Nobody should be ashamed of crooked teeth: this is true. But equally, nobody who has hollywood straight teeth because they needed a medical issue fixed should be shamed and told they look “creepy” for it.
Imo, there’s no shame in getting orthodontia just because you prefer that aesthetic or really don’t like the way your teeth currently are, either. None whatsoever.
The solution to the existence of an arbitrary beauty standard is not “well, everybody who does fit that standard actually looks creepy/[insert insult here]”.
I think this is akin to saying something like: women should never have to wear make-up or suffer judgement for choosing not to wear it, therefore women who do like and wear make-up are bad and it’s okay to insult and make fun of them and their choices about their own personal appearance. Or that because women shouldn’t be required to wear pink or dresses, we should shame those who do wear pink and dresses. Or that because people should not be insulted for being fat, it’s therefore okay to insult people for being skinny. It’s a ridiculous way of thinking and doesn’t solve the original problem at all.
And it just makes a situation where people can’t win no matter what they do - crooked teeth, or no make-up? You get insulted. Straight teeth and make-up? You get insulted in a different way. And as always, everyone who isn’t cis, white and male will have their appearances nitpicked this way the most.
The article only barely mentions orthodontics like braces, retainers, etc. and not as the substance of her major criticism. I don’t think she’s trying to call out the groups that you are mentioning, and in fact, the doctor she rhetorically highlights as “good” is the one recommending braces over veneers.
It’s the veneers and crowns she is mostly critiquing. She also unpacks how the standards for beauty are affected by celebrities doing this as a trend. Specifically, the procedures she is critiquing make an effect that is only achieveable by paying for the procedure, and the cost of getting and maintaining it makes it a class signifier. The financial elite set the standard.
You’re valid and your thoughts are a valid contribution to the discussion, but I figured I could clarify that in case you or other people didn’t see that in the article.
Even though I agree with what you say, I think the article was not an attempt to shame people who get their teeth fixed for whatever reason, cosmetic or functional. I perceived it more like an attempt to explore the extend of the unrealistic standards propagated through media, cinematic or web based.
I mean, what about body dysmorphia? It’s not the people who fall into this trap that are the issue. They are not vain, and they probably actually suffer in more ways than one. They are actually the victims of unrealistic standards propagated by media. I believe that attacking those standards is not the same as attacking the people that identify themselves in them.
And it doesn’t really stop at the teeth. It’s everywhere. Bodybuilders struggling for years to achieve physiques that are not only impossible to achieve without PED’s but actually also harmful to their health (especially if they start using drugs). Men injuring their bodies in countless ways to match false standards of what strength is supposed to look like. Women performing dangerous and sometimes clearly unhealthy plastic surgeries to match false standards of what attractive female figures are supposed to look like. Young people getting their faces changed permanently before they actually get a chance to experience the world fully.
This is not a new thing either. If you start looking into our past, there have been countless types of clothes that fit like a fingerless glove which people used to wear in order to conform to whatever social standards were at the time.
What is new though, is the extend to which these standards spread through modern media… Comparing the current situation to the one before the web, like for example the extend to which magazines or tv shows could influence people’s standards, looks scary to me. Oppressive to say the least.