I’m all for them…within some seriously defined boundaries of moderation.
I have my ears pierced, in two places (close together in the “normal” part of the pierce-able bottom ear lobe…none of that top ear lobe cartilage stuff). Honestly, I’m not sure why I ever got the second holes put in. Most days, I only think to put one set of earrings in my lobes, but I think I like the option of putting two sets in at one time…especially when I have the time and/or energy to search through my mini earring supply and find a set that would look smashing with another fabulous pair on hand.
I also had a belly button ring for a while. I did it with Ally when she turned 16. She asked if I would go with her, and as any mother of a teenager will tell you…if your 16-year-old kid actually WANTS to do something with you, even if it means poking a long sharp needle into your inny or outty…you DO IT!
I remember the two of us leaving the piercing “salon” and walking down the street feeling all cool…while holding the top of our pants down below our hips so that the waistbands wouldn’t rub against the newly stabbed portions of our belly buttons. Unfortunately, after the initial “I’m such a cool mom” phase wore off, and the healing process ended (which took an abnormally long time for me – being that it was an older belly button), I realized that the whole belly button ring thing was an absolute bitch to maintain.
I would spend an inordinate amount of time during my daily grooming focused on my naval. Honestly, it had never really been that big a part of my cleaning routine before, but it definitely took a whole lot of time to clean it and would take even longer for me to change the jewelry in it! I swear it took HOURS to wrangle that ring, or little jeweled barbell in and out through the two little holes in the upper lid of my naval. And, after all that work, nobody could see how cool it made me, or how well it went with my outfit, because it was…HIDDEN!
Seriously…what was the point!?!
So I took it out and never looked back, or at my belly button for that matter!
Even though I would consider myself pretty open minded to most things centered around personal adornment, I have to admit that I’m not crazy about piercings on lips, eye brows, noses, nipples or pretty much any other body part that sport a ring or dangling piece of jewelry. Those cute little dots of jewels that women wear in the soft fold of their noses? I think those are OK. But when they hang a ring through their nostrils, or through their eyebrows, or God forbid in their lips or tongues…I want to pull on them. I want to flick them. I want to yank them out.
When it really comes down to it, though, I think it’s less about the piercings per se and ALL about the Jewelry. Simply put, piercings provide an opportunity to wear body jewelry. And I take the coordination of jewelry, any kind of jewelry…really seriously.
I have visions of a future where I’m in an old-folks home and all of my peers are covered in silver studs and tattoos. I figure it’ll make bingo more exciting.
I think some people get piercings as a form of self-expression. Others get them because they think it looks good. I also know people who do it because they like the pain (I’m not here to judge). Me, the only body piercing I have I got because my mom made me.
My mom wanted her belly button pierced. I was almost 16, so she told me we should get them together. Even though every girl I knew was practically begging their moms to let them do it, my mom had to convince me. For whatever reason I didn’t have any desire to have a gigantic needle shoved through my stomach. But I did it, and I still have it, though it hasn’t seen the light of day since I was a size 2. (It’s been awhile.)
When I got my bellybutton pierced I was trying (unsuccessfully) to be friends with my ex-boyfriend. He was 100% against it because he thought if I got my bellybutton pierced (even if it was my mom’s idea) it would lead me on a path to sex with strangers and heroin benders. (Did I mention he was a strict Mormon?) I figured if I was going to hell, a bedazzled belly button was the least of my worries.
Other than that, I have 3 holes in each ear lobe, but rarely wear anything but simple silver balls in them. I used to have two holes in the cartilage of my left ear, but it never healed, so after a few years of not being able to sleep on that ear, I took it out. (There’s only so much pain a girl can take before she gives up on looking cool.)
As far as seeing piercings on others, I don’t really care. I think those teeny-tiny nose studs are cute, but other facial piercings don’t really appeal to me. Have you ever seen those piercings that are surgically implanted under the skin? People usually get them on the back of their neck or on (in?) their chest. Those hold a sort of morbid fascination for me. The first time I saw one I was sitting behind a girl in a sociology class in college. I couldn’t tell what the hell I was looking at (are those glued on? just stuck in there?), and I totally had to hold myself back from reaching out and poking the back of her neck (which, I assume, would be fairly awkward).
Personally, I have no idea what drives people to shove rings through their nipples or baby makers… but I guess I’m just missing something there.
I guess I believe that as long as nobody is coming at me with a needle, I figure people can do what they want. Then again, if I was a mom and my baby came to me with a ring shoved through some part of his or her body… I might have a problem with it. And I’d probably have to blame his or her Grandma Cindy.
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