I want to take a moment to talk to you about piercings. Many people have them, many people like them, just as many people can't stand them. The question I'm asking here is what makes a piercing different than other jewelry?
Why is an earring considered acceptable for women in the workplace, but for men it can be seen as obscene? Why, also, are earrings considered okay but a small, dignified nose ring considered inappropriate for most work environments?
I myself have a few piercings; nothing too over-the-top by most people's standards. They are all small and not very pronounced. I have a nose ring that sometimes catches sunlight when I'm walking to the park. I have a tongue ring that some people don't even notice unless I say something about it. I have six earrings, the largest gauge is a 14 (a comparison, for those of you unaware of how gauges are measured, 14g is the measurement of the average tongue ring; it measures 1.6mm. The standard 18g earrings are 1.0mm).
In my opinion, they are all done tastefully and I have never received any complaints about them. I don't have anything "taboo" such as nipples, genital piercings, or even a belly button ring.
My question is, why is it considered taboo to have a lot of piercings? Relative to my school, I am "mellow", meaning many of the people at the school have a larger quantity or size of piercings, but I don't see why any piercings would be considered bad. It's just jewelry, and as long as they're clean and the jewelry is not offensive in itself (i.e. tongue rings with obscene messages on them... I used to have some, but I never wore them) they should be treated with the same respect as a necklace or bracelet.
...Right?
Feel free to vent your thoughts on this matter; I have said mine and that's all I have to say.
I think it might have something to do with what people seem to associate many piercings with. Like the idea that those with multiple piercings are wild and uncontrollable.
Well, many people see it as not only piercing but mutalating your body. Also, our gerenation is much more open to piercings, and tattoos etc. Our parents on the other hand, their generation is not okay with that. I have a tattoo that my mom paid for, but she said if I get another one she will stop paying for college. Their generation just on a different playing field then ours, from what I have observed.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
I agree. I actually do have a nipple piercing but I don't see anything taboo about it, nipple piercings have only been around for, oh, thousands of years. And it's not like anyone but me sees it anyway.
I also have a lip ring and some ear piercings. The lip ring does tend to get a bit of unwanted attention. x.x
I totally agree with you on this. I as well have a tongue ring, however, I've gotten some complaints about it and comments like "Did you know that tongue rings chip the enamel of your teeth away?"
Well first of all, it's MY body, and MY choice. Secondly, I spoke to my dental hygenist about it, and she said that as long as I keep the acrylic ends on, rather than the metallic ends, it's fine, even if I have a metal barbell. That's all I need to know. If my dental hygenist okays it, that's good enough for me.
As far as genital piercings and nipple piercings go... I don't consider them taboo, but I wouldn't get them done simply because I think they'd be very painful.
Also, parallel to what you said about male v. female earrings, the same, yet oppisite can be said about male v. female nipple rings. If a man has a nipple ring, he's considered tough. I think that's sexy. But usually, when a female has her nipples pierced, it's considered taboo and slutty. This usually only happens if the girl is indeed slutty though and has no problem with flashing and showing it off to people.
Now, if people go above and beyond like this:
Well this is just ridiculous. This is WAY too much.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung
I agree that this guy is over the top. But what comes to my mind is, what makes this crazy?
And kudos on the acrylic ends. Mine are glow in the dark green. :)
* Barbara-Michelle
Cool! Glow in the dark kicks!
I'm not sure WHY the guy with the piercings is over the top. Maybe it's so disturbing because we can hardly see his face through all the piercings; and our facial characteristics is what defines us as human... maybe?
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung
I've had PLENTY of piercings.....nose, eyebrow, labret/lip, navel, industrial, conch, double nipple, and other. I was treated a lot different at different times and different places. I was the only honor student with tattoos and piercings, but I did well in school and never drank or did drugs. At jobs, I had to take outt he facial piercings because it was considered 'unprofessional'. Now, the only facial piercing I have in at the moment is my nose. To em it's really funny to think of how people would react if I told them I had those OTHER piercings, lol. I'm an average-looking chick: curly hair, skirts, button-downs, glasses.
Even though I've had my share of tattoos and piercings, I still find myself making some judgements by them. For some reason I think nose studs are more acceptable than lip rings, and pink hair is more acceptable than a bridge piercing. I don't know why, but i guess everyone makes some judgements without wanting to or realizing it.
Go figure!
Times flies like the wind; fruit flies like a banana.
I am looking into getting my tongue pierced and am quite excited. I know I have to be pierced with the normal metallic jewelry but once I am healed and able to downsize the bar and change it, what exactly is the very best/ safest type of jewelry to use for my teeth? I happen to like them quite a bit, and would like to try my very hardest to not hurt them!