A small point about large teeth; Hermione

[Ali]

David wrote:-

> Actually, in the light of our discussion, it's an interesting 
social comment that Hermione's parents *refuse* to let her treat her 
goofy teeth, isn't it?  And another one that, given the opportunity, 
she goes against their wishes.

Ali:

I thought Hermione said that they wanted her to continue with her 
brace as they hadn't wanted magical intervention? 

I think what I have most disliked about this concept of British 
teeth, is the sterotyping. I think that in terms of crooked teeth, 
we were indeed behind the States. Most people of my generation now 
have straight teeth, so I'm reluctant to agree that it's still the 
case. 

I don't know how rotten our teeth are compared to the average in the 
World, or the average in the Western World. I would prefer that all 
our water was fluoridated. But, in terms of hysterical ranting, 
that's a strong comment. These aren't silly hysterical people who 
have made those decisions, even if you and I disagree with them. 
There are often two sides to these discussions, and eminent 
scientists on both.

As an example, my husband is a Meteorologist. to him, the case for 
Global Warming is unequivocal. It's a question of how bad it is, not 
if it is. There is now a belief that the threat of global warming is 
far greater than the thread posed by global terrorism. And yet, very 
little is being done to stop this by our Governments. They prefer to 
rely on alternative "evidence", or just out of self-interest or 
short termism. Hmmn.

I think that some of my dislike about the British teeth = bad idea, 
is that it is anachronistic. It's not how (I believe) that we see 
ourselves. As a nation, we have a great number of faults, but I 
wouldn't put our teeth up there. Accuse us of being lager-louts or 
football hooligans if you will, a nation of binge drinkers, but bad 
teeth. No.

I was surprised about the idea of marketing bad crooked teeth as 
British. That would actually seem contrary to *our* race 
discrimination legislation, which aims to stamp out negative 
perceptions against different races and *nationalities*.

Ali

(Still very happy that she was wrong over the only 12 questions 
being asked in JKR's live web chat).