Embrace the Space: A Homage to Tooth Gaps
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
At a young age, I recall myself seated in a restaurant being served by a waitress whose looks were comparable to the princesses whose movies I exhausted by watching repeatedly. While I admired her beauty, aspiring to one day look like her, I overheard a comment from a nearby table that shifted my world: “She’d be much prettier if she didn’t have that gap between her teeth.” This made me question my own beauty as someone who also has a gap between my teeth. I could not and still cannot wrap my head around why something so minuscule correlated with being unattractive.
Feeling a sense of insecurity after that occurrence, I became more aware of this space in my mouth that apparently deemed me unaesthetically pleasing to look at. At my most vulnerable period of life, I was mocked for my teeth by peers and even dentists. I can still remember one dentist inquiring if I wanted to “aesthetically” fix my smile, implying that my smile didn’t meet the standards of beauty that society expected me to adhere to. When I proudly declined, trying to demonstrate security and confidence, I was met with a look of disappointment. This could’ve been due to them finding my smile unattractive or the lack of money they could’ve received from a simple yes.
It was an experience with a peer in high school that turned the tables for me once again, taunting me with the motto “Get the London look,” said in a Rimmel advertisement by gap-toothed model, Georgia May Jagger. What had been meant as an insult had the opposite effect. Sure, it was meant in a non-flattering way, but there are worse things than being compared to a model.
Image Courtesy: Fashion Gone Roge
Many professional models, actresses, content creators, and other celebrities flaunting their gap, rather than making it out to be something fixable, made me realize I wasn’t alone. Gaps are in, and confining beauty standards to a small box is out.
As I built my confidence over the years, I realized that beauty is subjective. There is no single person who can be the most beautiful or attractive individual in the world, and someone who is attractive to one individual could be completely unattractive to another. A friend with whom I had been vulnerable about the topic reassured me, “Your gap is YOU.” Realistically, I would be the same person if I had opted to have braces close the gap when the opportunity was presented. There would be nothing wrong with making that choice if it increased my confidence but, it felt unnecessary since I only had an issue with it when I thought that society would render it unappealing.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
The right choice for me was embracing the space. My smile remains untouched because I decided to romanticize it. The gap was passed down to me through genetics and allows me to appreciate the beauty of family and the many smiles that had come before me. I accept the trait with open arms and continue to perceive it as a promotion of individuality, rather than a beauty restriction.
Strike Out,
Writer: Lindsey Limbach
Editor: Blake N. Fiadino
Tallahassee