Crooked teeth – Japan
In many Western countries, people have a different vision when it comes to the perfect smile. For instance, statistics show that teens have a low self esteem level because they are not satisfied with their teeth. However, people in Japan have another perspective on beauty and they find those with crooked teeth attractive.
They call it “yaeba” and refers to “multilayered” or “double” tooth. This phenomenon occurs when molars push the canines forward. It has become a trend in Japan in recent years and there are some women who ask their dentist to help them with temporary or permanent artificial canines. These fake canines are usually glued on their natural teeth. This procedure is called “tsuke-yaeba”.
According to a dental clinic director, Taro Masuoka, “’Yaeba’ give girls an impish cuteness. It’s a sense of beauty unique to the Japanese, but ‘yaeba’ can be an attractive feature on women in their teens and twenties.”
Scarification – Western Africa, New Guinea
In general, people tend to feel insecure when they have scars on their bodies, but it seems that the inhabitants of New Guinea, Africa consider them beautiful. In fact, they even have a ritual called ‘scarification’ in which they transform their body by creating artistic wounds in order to have scars. This is not only a tradition to prove their bravery, but they also find these scars attractive.
People in New Guinea say that women opt for these types of tattoos because they want to be more beautiful. Western society considers these body modifications to be in fact harmful cultural practices, but we should understand that each society has its own specific norms and indications of beauty and we can’t judge them for their traditions.
So, after creating these ornamental wounds, they try to accentuate the scars with a technique called “packing”. This technique involves using soot as a sterile irritant and then rubbing it into the open wounds.
