Brushing teeth and the practice of perfecting the smile has been around for thousands of years. The toothbrush first appeared in history around 3000 BC. Throughout history they have been made of many varying materials, beginning with a “chew stick” which was literally a stick that had been chewed to create a frayed end that was used to clean particles from the teeth. It of course was not only for vanity reasons, but throughout history has become more and more about appearance than tooth health (we have dentures now, you can lose teeth at any time!).
The invention of whitening strips further solidified this practice of keeping teeth beautiful. When I read the assignment for this week, I immediately looked in the bathroom for something that might be useful for helping to think of a subject. Then I noticed my roommate’s fifty dollar tooth whitening kit that her parents bought for her. I went straight to my computer and researched some of the purposes for teeth whitening. I was expecting to see something about tooth health (because many people like to pretend they do things for their health rather than for vanity), but all of the “scientific” literature was about how using the strips will improve the quality of your smile and the brightness of the teeth.
In the time around the first appearance of the bristle toothbrush, it was uncommon for Europeans to keep good dental hygiene. Only people of upper class breeding brushed their teeth and were thought all the more beautiful for that. Since the beginning of history, the smile has been a commonly practiced facial expression and therefore is noticed and important. Even today, if you ask a person what they notice first about someone that they meet they would say their smile or eyes. The beauty of a feature like a smile or eyes is not something easily modified, but toothbrushes and whitening strips are a small attempt at doing so. Whitening strips especially reflect Bordo’s point of “pursuits without a terminus”. People spend hundreds of dollars on making their teeth more shiny and bright. And for what? Appearance as someone of high class? Being a desirable mate? I have never bought tooth whitening strips before, and have never thought so much about them. Don’t really get it.
I really liked how you brought up that whitening teeth isn't for health as a body practice, it's for looks as a body practice. I think that's a pretty interesting indicator of what a lot of today's body practices revolve around. Especially since something as important as dental health is sacrificed for appearance.
ReplyDeleteI agree. My dentist used to rant endlessly about the high school girls what were already asking to get their teeth whitened. We have come to expect that our teeth be so white they "glow in the dark" according to her. In reality, this isn't their natural state, but if we see the slightest yellowing we feel "unclean" or "unkept". I think it's interesting that we expect them to be that way. Cool observations.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you incorporated the history of the vanity associated with teeth. It made the body practice seem justified but also a bit archaic.
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