Tyler, who pierces at Tattoo Cultura in Moscow, Russia, did this smiley piercing on a customer, but sent it in because,
“Her teeth amazed me — there was no modification… It’s all natural!”
One of the things that I love about this community is acceptance, and even revelry, in the different ways people’s bodies turn out, both on purpose and by chance.
I’m reminded of a scene in one of my favorite movies, Harold and Maude, in which Maude has just told Harold that if she could be a flower, she’d like to be a sunflower, and asks him what kind he’d like to be. He gestures at an enormous field of daisies, and when asked why, says, “because they’re all the same.”
Maude assures him though that they’re not, showing him, and saying,
“See — some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have some petals missing — all kinds of observable differences. There is not a repeat in the bunch. Each person is different, never existed before and never to exist again. Just like this daisy — an individual.”
What Maude says next very much sums up one of the core philosophical/cultural statements that I try and make on BME…
“I believe much of the world’s sorrow comes from people who know they are this — (she holds the daisy) — yet let themselves be treated — (she looks out at the field) — as that.”
I never wanted to be different, I just wanted to be me.
Comments
32 responses to “Smile, You’re Different”
Wow, I am definitely going to have to see that movie. It sounds fantastic.
And her teeth are amazing!
Her teeth aren’t really an unusual shape, they’re just not in their usual positions. The pointy teeth are her cuspids, or canine teeth which are normally more at the corners of our mouths. She’s missing the lateral incisors, the teeth that are usually between the central incisors or two front teeth and the cuspids. Her’s appear to be missing completely, some people’s are misshapened into a peg shape and are referred to as a “peg-lateral”. This is just one of those quirky anomalies some of us are born with.
Ditto on the amazing teeth (and the ovaries to keep facial hair).
I always have a great big smile whenever anyone sings the praises of my favorite movie! If you haven’t seen it, I hope you have the opportunity to do so sometime. May we all grow up to be like Maude!
Nice post, Shannon! 🙂
Love the little blood bubble…
her teeth are amazing as well
HMMM I make a much cuter version LOL
I´m downloading the movie right now.
Loved the teeth, hope she is a bitter, she could make some lucky guy very very happy 😀
in addition to Em’s explanation she has Partial Anodontia, certain teeth are congenitally missing, most often the wisdom teeth and next likely the lateral incisors
I have peg laterals, they’re my little fangs. I don’t think they’re that unusual but I’ve never seen another person with them until now.
love the quotes.
To tell you the truth, I’m not big on her teeth, I’m a stickler for nice teeth and noses.
hey shannon! i loved your post! thanks for coming back. we missed you.the quotes made me crrryyyy ahah. a lot of my friends don’t seem to understand how important bodymodification is to me, they think i’m just crazy. I’m so glad there’s other people who feel the same way. thanks again shannon!
I’ve only seen one person with teeth like that, a girl who works at the Starbucks near my bus-stop. It looks so cute and feral!
facial hair?…i dont see any…..
Does anyone know how often the moddoctor stops by?…..i have a question for him o.o
my friend has teeth like those, but his go into proper sharp points. completely natural also
yay harold and maude! that is my favorite quote from the movie as well.
Oh, my theeth are like that!!! 😀
🙂
What a treat! Harold and Maude is my favorite movie.
Nice post, the picture is pretty cute with the bubble and all.
Also, I just wanna say that I find it really uplifting to read about ‘the core philosophical/cultural statements’ you bring up, totally makes my day to think that there’s still some positive forces in the world, BME being one of them. Haha, yes. Excuse me whilst I go and ponder something quietly in the corner…
We should all ponder quietly.
There is Something About Shannon…
the facial hair and the missing teeth kinda bug me…
but as for the pointy teeth… good for her for not getting it fixed. i had pretty pointy canines when i was younger but my parents had them filed down:/… i liked them. and my gap:(
I freaking love Harold and Maude!!! This post made my day, besides my parents, I don’t know anyone else who has even heard of the movie! ^_^^_^_^
And yeah, my teeth aren’t messed up like that, but my first molars on the bottom have no adult teeth so the baby teeth are still there and they’re tiny compared to all my other teeth.
Honestly, if you go that close to ANYONE’s face you will see a tiny bit of peach fuzz, so that’s not exactly what most people would consider “facial hair.”
i still dont see it 🙁
I love that movie too, and until today was pretty sure I was the only one that remembered it. I worked in a movie rental place some time ago and even those who worked with me didn’t know the movie… but I digress.
#23: Sorry to hear about your teeth. I can’t imagine filing my daughter’s teeth down though she has an almost deadly point to one of her canines. In fact, I’m jealous of her teeth. :/ (Though I’m not against tooth modification necessarily, my son was going to get braces because his teeth grew in so badly twisted- then he took a header off his bike onto concrete. It knocked them all just the littlest bit loose and as they healed, they straightened themselves out. Heh)
I love her teeth.. my fangs were fixed and filed after i got braces… they used to look like a fake set of vampire teeth but when they took my braces off they filed the front to make them perfectly even and then took both my points off.. SO SAD!!! esp. since i can’t grow them back.
what’s that yellow thing between her front teeth under the gum? eww…
filthee, I’ve looked & looked & still have no idea what you are on about. I think this photo is lovely.
smile….you have nasty gum disease….ewwww…..
One of my good friends has teeth pretty much exactly like that, with only the two front teeth and the little fangs.
That ‘gum disease’ or ‘yellow thing’ is a blood bubble. I thought it was something nasty at first, too. ha.