Hmm...

[ksmith]

So yesterday, justinelavaworm discussed a panel she and matociquala, among others, participated in during which discussions of class were attempted/danced around/not quite followed through on. Then I saw this line in today's entry in Jane Espenson's blog:

You know how, in this country, the most visible, and most reliable, indicator of a person's social class is the condition of their teeth?

and I started thinking about outward indications of social class.

Not sure about teeth. A former manager, who came from upper-middle PacNorWet money, had one of the worst sets of choppers I had ever seen. But then, he had a casual attitude about a lot of things, including money. In a way, this casualness typed him as surely as Jane's perfect teeth.

Hands are supposed to be another indicator--their condition and the style of manicure. Shoes. Hair style. Weight.

I don't have time to go into this now, and I'm not sure what I'd say if I did except that I find it all pretty interesting.

Comments

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Lime isn't constant throughout the soil - I think it might just be wear and tear and a fear of dentists! We certainly don't go in for as much cosmetic work (although we are beginning to), partly because of cost. I have an overbite, mainly corrected by a childhood retainer (that always sounds like some old family servant), and a dodgy misplaced tooth on my lower jaw. Both could apparently be corrected, according to a fomer dentist, by breaking and re-setting my jaw. At this point I decided to go for the ugly look, as we fashionistas like to call it.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I do know someone who went through the jaw breaking/resetting. The jaw was also shifted forward slightly to lessen the receding appearance. After that came the braces. Overall, the difference in appearance was visible, but not profound. I never asked her if she felt it was worth it.