beauty
noun beau•ty ˈbyü-tē : the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit
Manila – Appreciating beautiful things is part of human nature. People seeking for ways on how to be beautiful is very common these days. Advertisements on beauty products are everywhere. The desire to be beautiful is universal and it dates back to the olden times.
But how do we truly define beauty?
Every culture has different ways of defining beauty. To be called beautiful depends largely on the accepted preference of one’s social group or cultural upbringing. Often, people emulate what they perceive appealing and modify one’s physical appearance to attain the ideal beauty.
For thousands of years, various ethnic groups around the world have performed teeth modification, a practice intended for religious reasons, social status and aesthetic purposes. It is one of the many alterations practiced by several ethnic groups around the world in order to attain a more ethnically desired appearance.
Based on the archeological evidence by anthropologists as far back as 1400 BC, ancient Mayans had already performed teeth filling, capping, removal and incrustation. Elaborate ornamentation on the teeth such as inlays using jadeite, pyrite and other minerals came later at the end of the first millennium. Teeth were carved with holes to allow the insertion of small round pieces of jade or polished iron pyrite. According to studies decorative inlays were a practice among the upper class of ancient Maya society and were done for aesthetic purposes.
Aside from decorative inlays, some ethnic groups modify their teeth by filing, ablation, staining, or drilling. Many ethnic groups have maintained this practice for thousands of years. Although not as popular as it once was, there are still a handful of them around the world that still perform these customary teeth modifications.
Currently in Japan, the crooked-teeth-look or “yaeba” is one of the most sought after fashion trends among Japanese women. Yaeba, which literally means multilayered teeth can be achieved through a special dental procedure to make the teeth appear crowded. In Japan, it is perceived as a sign of youthfulness.
While the custom of dyeing one’s teeth black or “ohaguro” is rarely practiced nowadays in Japan, the geishas in Kyoto are still dyeing their teeth black to keep the custom alive. Ohaguro was a popular practice among Japanese until the early 20th century where women who reached the age of puberty drank an iron-based black dye mixed with various spices like cinnamon, cloves and anise to color their teeth black. The custom was believed to boost sex appeal among younger women in order to find their future husbands. One school of thought believes that a darkened smile manifests a woman’s polite obedience to men, while the other school of thought believes that the practice of ohaguro was intended to make married women unattractive to other men.
The practice of teeth blackening is not exclusive to Japan alone. A similar tradition can still be seen in the mountains of Vietnam today. A few women with jet-black toothy smiles are still present among the Black Hmong tribe occupying the mountain regions near the Chinese border. For them, black teeth have always been in fashion for thousands of years. It is a sign of beauty and a rite of passage that signals a woman’s transformation to adulthood.
Vietnamese women were presumed ready for marriage only after she had her first teeth blackening ceremony. In addition, it was an assurance that a person would not be mistaken for an evil spirit because of the belief that only animals and demons possess white teeth. Many of the younger generations today cease to carry out the tradition although a rare number of younger women show interest to keep the tradition alive for generations to come.
In Indonesia, teeth modification is common to the indigenous group occupying the coastal and rainforest environment of West Sumatra. Women of the Mentawai tribe chisel their teeth into sharp points upon reaching puberty. A Brahmin or priest performs the rite by using a sharp rock and a piece of wood. This ritual is necessary for both physical and spiritual beauty that target to free the human of evil spirits and to keep the soul from wandering.
For this indigenous group, sharpened teeth are perceived to be more beautiful and more appealing to the opposite sex. Although Mentawai women of today are no longer obliged to achieve such teeth, several others still endure the excruciating tradition due to family pressure, superstitions and mainly the desire to be beautiful.
In Africa, teeth extraction among many groups is a custom since prehistoric times. It is revealed by hundreds of skeletal remains excavated by anthropologist with missing lower incisors. An initiation of Luo people, the third largest community in Kenya, the ritual involves the removal of six teeth from the lower jaw to announce the coming of age for both men and women.
A comparable tradition between the Surma and Suri tribes in Ethiopia also includes a removal of the lower incisors when a girl hits puberty to make space for a lip plate and to start the process of lip stretching. A lip plate is a representation of beauty among women who also craft their own plate. The community believes that the bigger the plate is, the more beautiful a woman is perceived in her tribe.
Different cultures have their own rituals and practices for social status, spiritual beliefs aesthetic value and societal acceptance. Some rituals may seem bizarre to an outsider’s point of view, but it is a manifestation that people by nature are willing to undergo arduous procedures just to attain and maintain their culture’s standard of beauty.
Discovering other cultures allows us to have a better understanding of the world and the people who share it. It teaches us a new perspective on other people’s beliefs, values and tradition while it gives us a deeper appreciation of our own culture.
Image from JCH Travel, https://www.flickr.com/photos/jean-christophe_huet/
