The SO Piercing Questions & Discussion Mega-Thread

ever since i can remember being a little girl, i wanted my ears pierced. actually, around 6, i guess. i thought babies looked so "pretty" with pierced ears. my mother thought it was repulsive. well, for my ninth birthday, i got my ears pierced. it didn't traumatize me or anything...because i went out and got 6 more as soon as i could (legally).

well, like many people, i have grown up and realize i share many of the same ideals as my mother. when i see an infant with piercings or even a toddler, i'm disgusted. i mean, as much as i love all my adornments, i realize how it is kinda bodily mutilation. how can you do this to your kid? i mena, if your kids cool and when they kinda can figure out what they want...i say, sure, go ahead and poke a hole in 'em or two.

and to those who think it's "pretty" or...whatever, what about getting your newborns, say...eyebrow pierced? how do you draw the line? many people see nothing wrong with pierced earlobes on an infant, but if that kid had a nostril pierced it'd probably incite riots!

i wanna borrow someone's kid one day andput those magnetic studs on a couple of key facial features and just listen to the barrage of comments.

so, how would you explain your decision to pierce your child?

Bump!

At a users request, I've re-opened the thread

But if you could be a little more direct in the advice/opinion you are seeking, or what you hope to get out of this thread and the direction in which it's taking, that would be most appreciated.

Cheers!

shals

well i've had my ears pierced since i was seven at my own request. ( so did my two sisters)

My son wanted one of his done at seven aswell and i let him (he doesn't have it in now though - he ended up not liking it )

I love seeing little girls with their ears pierced and i always said if i had one i would get hers done as a baby. I do think it's adorable and it only hurts a little and for a second. I think there is more people should be worrying about when it comes to child abuse then getting a little girl's ears pierced

Facial piercings are a bit different though

i actually saw a website where babies were getting tattoed...no thats torture, abuse and disgusting!

I dunno....my little cousin got her ears pierced when she was about six I think.....don't quite know what I think of it. She wanted it done, but I dunno if she understood it'd hurt or whatever.

I don't really like it myself, all my piercings have been acquired since the age of 13 through to 16 (17 now, not had any more yet but I want me tongue doing soon) and they all mean something to me....guess that sounds a bit weird, but piercings to me are something personal, I don't want someone else inflicting them upon me....feels kind of invasive in a way.

So kids with piercings = nahhh. If they want it done and they're not too young, it's ok, but otherwise....

Mind, that's only my opinion. A rambling one at that.

Re: Bump!

shal said:

But if you could be a little more direct in the advice/opinion you are seeking, or what you hope to get out of this thread and the direction in which it's taking, that would be most appreciated.

Click to expand...

i think so too....


i m strongly opposed to piercings for myself.....and i dont wanna insult anyone here, but i dont know what the ? is. my advice is "DONT". why pierce? do u think it will make u more beautifull? do u think u ll be a better person? will u feel like a better person? i dont think so, but if u disagree with me that's fine....u can tattoo urself from top to bottom and pierce ur entire body, i couldnt care less. have a nice day%)

I had my ears pierced when I was 6 wks old. My granny got pissed at my mom for doing it and convinced her to wait for my sister's. My sis was so nervous and scared of the process that she couldn't bring herself to get them done until she was like 15, even though she started wanting them around age 8 or so. I was just glad mine were always there.

I used to pierce ears as well, when I worked at Afterthoughts and Claires, and pierced many babies ears where the baby basically slept right through the piercing, or woke up only momentarily to go right back to sleep. Babies took it the best. The worst of all were those 6 year olds that had 'decided' it was time, then got one done and freaked out so much they kicked you, or ran around the store, or screamed bloody murder, etc.

I'm sure I'll do it...it's just part of the culture I grew up with...I think it's pretty, and I don't think it causes any more pain or discomfort than a simple shot for a child (from firsthand experience).

As far as a line between that and body piercings, there wouldn't really be a clear one, but other piercings carry a higher chance of infection or the piercing migrating or growing out, which you wouldn't really want to risk. This is one of those issues I know people have problems with, but there's really no doubt/issue in my mind about it.

i had mine pierced at 4. i remember we were going to go to sesame place, but it was rainy and they were closed, so we went to the mall instead. i think my parents asked if i wanted to get my ears pierced, i guess to cheer me up since we couldnt go to sesame place.

i dont think i would get my babys ears pierced. it looks strange to me, to see a little baby with grown-up things in their ears. but thats just me

I personally would not pierce my daughters ears at her tender age now (4 months) but two of my nieces were pierced right around the same time. I don't believe it is mutilation in the case of ears since so many women (and men) have their ears done these days. Even nose piercings in some cultures are prevalent at that young age. Not something I would choose but it I don't think it is an abnormality.

However. piercing any other part of a child and ESPECIALLY tattoos is fucking barbaric.

i feel it is a case of tradition/your beliefs of bod mod that you want to pass onto a child against having the child make their own choice in the matter
a child can have thier ears done after their first round of shots is done, well this is the smart time to have it done to prevent infection- not sooner. it doesnt mean that they should. i myself am modded and have strong feelings about modification and its meanings beyond it being pretty- after struggling with the thought it it having to be my daughters own descion and so on, and what i want to pass onto her (not that i want/would force her into being a tattooed, pierced, suspended 'freak' i would just like to show her at a much later age the spiritual side people can find in all things, including body modification) i had her ears done last month at eight months. she can make any other descions for herself at a later date. she is facinated with my plugs as it is now and she was more annoyed and crying at the fact that we had to hold her head than the actual piercing. if she chooses to remove them, that is fine... if not then she will have her first modification without remembering the pain.

and the child tattoo site- it's fake ok.

i got mine pierced when i was in 2nd grade at my request.

it bothers me when i see babies with their ears pierced. they can rip them out, permanently scarring or disfiguring their ears. i personally think it's best to wait until the kid is in elementary school and do it when the child asks for it, not because the parents want it.

I only understand piercing in small babies if it's a cultural thing. I don't like the way it looks, and I don't understand the need to do it. Besides that, I really liked making the decision to get my ears pierced, and going with my mum to the salon and choosing the earrings I wanted. I was 10 when I got mine done and it was almost like a rite of passage. I took my sister to get hers done when she was 10 as well, and she felt the same way.

I have even less understanding of piercing little boys' ears. I know a woman who has had all 3 of her daughters' ears pierced in infancy, which is one thing. But she also had one of her son's ears pierced when he was a few months old. WHY? Of course, she was 17 or something at the time. But, yuck.

I'm not too fussed about whether or not it's painful - little babies are pretty resilient really. I just don't like the way it looks, and the fact that the child can't make the decision for themselves.

Okay I am not a parent or have kids so I am not sure why I still feel so compelled to respond to this......

I would say though that many parents do get toddlers ears pierced because many know that when young ithey won't remember the pain of someone sticking a needle through thier ears... younger girls remember and some will freak out... The transistion is just a bit easier.......... Although I am against any parent trying to force beliefs onto someone who cant make thier own decisions cause they are young..... I.E. vegetetarians/vegans or getting body mods..... WITH the exception of religion(dunno why this one doesnt bother me)... I will say though with regards to ear piercings.... If a child doesnt like them when they get older they could allways take them out... My niece had this experience.... will save the objections to the other things when a more relevant post comes up

Anna - why less understanding if they are boys? what's the difference between a boy or a girl getting it done? and if it's their choice then why not?

I don't know what the difference is, just that in my mind it's not as "routine" for boys to get their ear(s) pierced later on, so I feel like it should be a choice they get to make. I can't justify it, that's just the way it feels to me.

Clearly it's not their choice when they're 6 months old. I don't have any problem with guys getting piercings of their choosing, I just think it's weird when they're babies.

oh ok, fair enough then , i guess

I personally don't like the look either. Parents should embrace infant's gradual discovery of their bodies.. including their ears the way they came out of the womb. I almost look at it like a mother painting her child's fingernails. A baby is a baby, not a doll.

Plus, I would be in constant fear of the baby getting her/his ears caught on something, anything.

^^ oh please

I wouldn't do it to my child. I take the position that it's their body and their choice (when they are older) to have them peirced if that is what they want.

Of course I don't think it harms the child in any way. And I can understand the cultural reasons some do it.

^^ what about spiritual reasons?

^^
That would be fine too.

I'm not morally opposed to it. It's just that I would prefer to let that be a decision my child makes when they are old enough. If others want to do it for moral, cultural, spiritual, tribal, whatever reasons I see no harm. And in fact I think traditions can be a great thing. Just it was never a tradition in my family.