Tooth-whitening adverts are racist!

So I was going through a YouTube clip, and next thing here comes this advert for toothpaste, and the first line is: "White is in"!

But isn't that body fascism, and preaching "white superiority", even if somewhat indirectly?

But what's so great about white teeth?
We had a rural community in Pofadder who were famed for their brownish, non-white teeth.
It was from the water, but our teacher once told us that these people's teeth were so strong, you could plow the fields with them (and I sometimes suspect they did).

I'm sure if it was any other product that promised to make any other part of your body "whiter" (except hair-dye maybe - but that's not permanent), it would be off the market.

Drop the "white" or "whitening" from toothpaste!
It privileges "whiteness", and that "toothism" makes other teeth (and many smiles and debates) feel inferior!

Drop the racism from toothpaste!

a reply to: halfoldman

I'm sure if it was any other product that promised to make any other part of your body "whiter" (except hair-dye maybe - but that's not permanent), it would be off the market.

Lye soap ?

We need to see more green teeth, yellow teeth, and Black teeth

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: halfoldman

I'm sure if it was any other product that promised to make any other part of your body "whiter" (except hair-dye maybe - but that's not permanent), it would be off the market.

Lye soap ?

Yeah, maybe we could wash the lie media with that!

originally posted by: visitedbythem
We need to see more green teeth, yellow teeth, and Black teeth

What makes a tooth green?

scrapping down the barrel huh...
sprinkle some anti immigrants or a dash of of anti islam with a dab of trump is christ, but better; youll make front page.

So are eyedrops! how to make your eyes whiter.

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Spirulina can make em pretty green for a bit

You're a little late on the skin whitening products.

Those have been around for a long, long time. Whitening skin is a popular thing in Asian countries as women there try to look more 'westernized.'

I think tooth whitening is stupid, but not racist.

It's called Halitosis marketing.

Link

originally posted by: visitedbythem
We need to see more green teeth, yellow teeth, and Black teeth

#Methmouthsmatter!

Not sure I agree with some other products mentioned.

However toothpaste adverts do so consistently, without a direct medical benefit.
It's largely an inter-sectional race or class dream most people will never reach.
At least not with the products on offer.

Take it as a joke, or otherwise, but there is a point behind my rant.
A polished ivory whiteness is held up as the norm.
"Whiteness" as hygeine and normality, and all else as "dirt".
And since it is about a habit - or a Foucaultian "care of the self", your failure to achieve it is YOUR fault!
Not the fault of the product not working, because by 40 most people's teeth discolor.

originally posted by: halfoldman
So I was going through a YouTube clip, and next thing here comes this advert for toothpaste, and the first line is: "White is in"!

But isn't that body fascism, and preaching "white superiority", even if somewhat indirectly?

But what's so great about white teeth?
We had a rural community in Pofadder who were famed for their brownish, non-white teeth.
It was from the water, but our teacher once told us that these people's teeth were so strong, you could plow the fields with them (and I sometimes suspect they did).

I'm sure if it was any other product that promised to make any other part of your body "whiter" (except hair-dye maybe - but that's not permanent), it would be off the market.

Drop the "white" or "whitening" from toothpaste!
It privileges "whiteness", and that "toothism" makes other teeth (and many smiles and debates) feel inferior!

Drop the racism from toothpaste!

So you are treating "white" as different from other skin colors.

What was the definition of racism again?

Something along the lines of "treating someone different because of the color of their skin"?

All fun aside, it is seen as sign of good dental hygiene.

It isn't new, however...

A quick glimpse at history shows white teeth have been on the agenda long before the advent of seductive Hollywood smiles and billion-dollar bleaching campaigns.

“People have been doing this for thousands of years,” says Dr. Scott Swank, dentist and curator for the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, Md. “The Greeks had formulations and at the beginning of the Renaissance, Europeans were certainly putting compounds on their teeth in a conscious effort to whiten them."

Unfortunately, those compounds were essentially the equivalent of today’s Clorox. “It ate the enamel away,” he says. “They had whiter teeth for a while, but then they started to see severe decay.”

a reply to: Lumenari

No I'm, merely following the trend of seeing social justice causes everywhere.

And discrimination via teeth, it is actually an inter-sectional issue, but a very real one.

Yeah white teeth were the rage at times, but there were also instances in history where only the rich could afford sugar, and the poor would discolor their teeth with coal to copy the rotten teeth of the upper classes.

a reply to: halfoldman

Well it's in South Africa right.

💮

originally posted by: halfoldman
a reply to: Lumenari

No I'm, merely following the trend of seeing social justice causes everywhere.

And discrimination via teeth, it is actually an inter-sectional issue, but a very real one.

Yeah white teeth were the rage at times, but there were also instances in history where only the rich could afford sugar, and the poor would discolor their teeth with coal to copy the rotten teeth of the upper classes.

It's a social thing.

I think that at the basis of it, younger people (especially children) typically have whiter teeth so it is another way to attempt to look younger, in our screwed up society.

My current fun issue is why is paper white and type black when it's easier to read white type on a black page.

OMG... it's EVERYWHERE in society!!!

Hat tip to your current SJW focus....

originally posted by: visitedbythem
We need to see more green teeth, yellow teeth, and Black teeth

I think the teeth in one's mouth need to be proportionally diverse to reflect the population!

All over Asia they prominently advertise skin whitening cream and solutions, it’s everywhere.
I remember the first time I saw one I thought it was some sort of joke or parody, in hindsight it’s weird that those ads made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

As for white teeth, that’s not really about aesthetics, it’s more a sign of health I reckon

a reply to: halfoldman

It's not racist.

It's just that white teeth are usually superior to other teeth colours... non-white teeth just tend to cause problems and cause a lower standard of life, in general.

btw, claiming tooth whitening ads are racist, is an indication that you yourself are a closet case racist... Just saying.

a reply to: halfoldman

Satire?