I was asked to contribute to a piece for Sunday Life Magazine in which three writers tell of the parts of their bodies that consume their attention. I was tempted to write about my feet, but Fay Weldon beat me to it. So I wrote about my mouth. My friend Kirsten Krauth wrote about her ears and Michelle Law wrote about her hands (see here for the full article).
What about you? What body part would you have chosen to write about?
MOUTH
by Angela Savage
Ever since I started talking at the age of six months, my mouth has been my defining feature. I draw attention to it by wearing loud red lipstick and smiling a lot.
I’ve never considered myself a beauty, but I look all right when I smile – a teeth-flashing, eye-crinkling grin. I’ve tried toning it down, but end up looking either devious or half asleep. So I’ve never affected the cool, serious author photo beloved by crime writers. My grinning mugshot sits at odds with what one reviewer called the “hard-boiled quality of menace” that underpins my prose.
My mouth mostly stood me in good stead when I was growing up. Public speaking gave me confidence. Singing got me into school musicals – which, coming from a girls’ school, was essential for meeting boys. This enabled me to indulge in another favourite oral pastime, kissing, a skill honed role-playing with the girl next door.
Of course, I often put my foot in my mouth. I still cringe at the memory of having asked the neighbourhood bad boy to “just say no” to drugs. No wonder my love for him went unrequited. Looking back, I reckon most of the smiling I did in my teens was to mask my embarrassment or hide my heartbreak.
I taught my mouth new tricks by learning languages: in French, I became pouty; in Thai, I’d jut out my chin and part my lips to make new vowel sounds.
Living in Buddhist countries required me to get my mouth around a whole new lexicon of smiles – part of maintaining the social harmony so valued in the local culture. In Thailand, where I set my novels, I learnt to smile appreciatively (yim cheuun chohm), to smile while masking sadness (yim sao) and to smile apologetically (yim yaae yaae). At times I felt my mouth strain with the effort of forcing a smile (yim mai aawk).
I held on to my laugh, though. Despite living in countries where women stifle giggles politely behind their hands, my laughter remains loud and bright. I like to think it matches my lipstick.
I think you have a fabulous smile, Angela! And I love it that you’ve taken some time to really reflect on your mouth, and how it impacts (and is impacted by) your character. It’s just fascinating! What a great project this was.
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Your own smile is rather fetching, too, Margot! And yes, it was a fun project to be part of. The Australian version was modelled on this article, which first appeared in the UK Guardian.
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Yes, your laugh certainly matches your lipstick – that was fabulous Angela!
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Thanks Lea 🙂
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Indeed, you have a smile that should never be hidden! And if you have to put your foot in your mouth occasionally, lovely bright lipstick will help distract people’s attention… 😉
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That’s a good point about using bright lipstick to distract people from my gaffs, FF. If only I’d thought of that when I was a teenager…
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