# Black men and earrings. Can we let it go already? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402 "2010-05-14T06:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/61 "2010-05-15T01:53:22Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Ha! You should have seen some of my former coworkers. Gauged ears, pierced septums, labrets, etc. I’m so used to seeing more extreme piercings (and those were fairly mild) that little studs are fairly mundane. And that’s when she was a roadie for The Lennon Sisters. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/62 "2010-05-15T05:58:22Z")
I don’t have a problem with men wearing earrings but it seems that lately men will wear large, somewhat feminine earrings in both ears. To me they look like they dressed in drag earlier and forgot to take the earrings off when they changed out of their costumes. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/63 "2010-05-15T06:03:01Z")
> [@SP2263](#): > > I don’t have a problem with men wearing earrings but it seems that lately men will wear large, somewhat feminine earrings in both ears. To me they look like they dressed in drag earlier and forgot to take the earrings off when they changed out of their costumes. Not to me. Double the earrings, double the hotness. (Although I will admit that many of the guys I’ve seen with this jewelry style are gay, or at least in years past that tended to be the case, so I haven’t quite figured out if the two-earring motif is saying “this hotness is not for you, lady” or not. I suppose it can’t hurt to check anyway. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/64 "2010-05-15T07:27:47Z")
I’d probably say an [expensive watch](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11928764#post11928764) is more of a bullshit affectation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/65 "2010-05-15T07:57:19Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Just to confuse the issue, I’m a stodgy old white man and I have had an earring for eighteen years. Not a long dangly fish-bait one, I grant you. > > Mos’ generally a trend becomes dated a maximum of ten minutes after I adopt it, so I am wondering what took so long. But I like my earring, and intend to keep it. I’m hoping eventually it will become retro and ironic. > > Like my leisure suits. > > Regards, > Shodan There is no hippie more tired than an old hippie. Your slide left will end with an old VW microbus, a gray ponytail, peace signs on the bus, birkenstocks, granny glasses and a collection of old Nixon Now More Than Ever memorabilia. (Which I actually nostalgically collected during the Bush years as at least Nixon was convinced he was pure evil, Bush was too f’ing stupid know.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/66 "2010-05-15T07:59:09Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Just wait until Ed Bradley gets full armsleeve tattoos. Morley Safer will have to get a faux-hawk just to keep up. Ed is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/67 "2010-05-15T08:01:27Z")
Another 44 year old white male here. My left lobe has been pierced since 1980, and my right since 1984. I generally just leave sleepers in the holes. In fact I haven’t particularly thought about my earrings for a long time. They’re just an extension of my body, really. But I like them, and I don’t give a hoot what anyone else thinks is (or isn’t) appropriate for me. And I don’t give a hoot whether anyone else wears earrings or not, either. The fact that both my earlobes are pierced is not a message about my sexual orientation, either, and having known other guys (straight and gay) with both lobes pierced, I’m sure I didn’t miss the memo. There is no secret code. In my case, it means I liked having one ear pierced, so I got the other one done too. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/68 "2010-05-15T12:30:21Z")
I think a little hoop earring is very sexy on a man, regardless of skin color. Don’t care for the silly chunky “diamonds” though. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/69 "2010-05-15T15:14:22Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Shakespeare agreed with you.](http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/imagery.html) He seemed to think earrings looked OK on [white guys, too](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shakespeare.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/70 "2010-05-15T15:47:18Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Just to confuse the issue, I’m a stodgy old white man and I have had an earring for eighteen years. Not a long dangly fish-bait one, I grant you. > > Mos’ generally a trend becomes dated a maximum of ten minutes after I adopt it, so I am wondering what took so long. But I like my earring, and intend to keep it. I’m hoping eventually it will become retro and ironic. > > Like my leisure suits. > > Regards, > Shodan My image of you has been completely shattered. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/71 "2010-05-15T16:42:46Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I’d probably say an [expensive watch](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11928764#post11928764) is more of a bullshit affectation. 😃 Oh burn!!! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/72 "2010-05-15T16:43:28Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The only ear ornamentation I have strong opinions on are those accursed ugly quarter (and sometimes larger) sized [ear tunnels](http://tattoo.about.com/b/a/stretchearblog.jpg). I wouldn’t illegalize them except for minors (which I’m guessing is already illegal), but my strong opinions are all based on the “those things are disgusting and a pathetic ‘Look-at-Me’ bid”.\ Ear tunnels are useful; they let you know who just isn’t right. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/73 "2010-05-15T17:06:31Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Ear tunnels are useful; they let you know who just isn’t right. But… but how else are they supposed to schlep their [cell phones?](http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h16/smartaleq/cell_dork.jpg)😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/74 "2010-05-15T17:15:22Z")
I thought this was going to be about Don Cheadle. I saw him on Kimmel several nights ago and he was wearing very distracting earrings in both ears. They were either large silver or pearl things that covered most of his lobes. They stood out like beacons against his dark skin. I just kept staring at the earrings, I have no idea what he talked about … some movie he was in, Earring Man 2, maybe? Anyway, I really don’t care that he was black and wearing earrings, it was his choice of earrings that bugged me. I just think someone should have said, “Dude, you look like you’re wearing your grannies old clip ons.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/75 "2010-05-15T19:19:58Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > No, I mean the medium-to-dark skin of people of african descent whose ancestors were taken to the U.S. within the last 200 years, who also often carry lineage from white, Native American, and other racial backgrounds. > > The gold looks good on the bittersweet-chocolate skintone of African-born folks, too, but IMO it’s even more attractive on those with some mixed race somewhere in their lineage. > > So PPPPPPPppppppbbbbbbbbbttttttt to you! 😛 I definitely think our brown-skinned people are the only ones who need to be piercing their nostrils with a stud. When white girls do it it looks like a stray booger - you have to be Indian or black to have the stud show up attractively. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/76 "2010-05-15T20:43:40Z")
I immediately thought of the guy I saw in line at the grocery store yesterday. Large, tall, very dark skin, with a pair of diamonds (or diamond-looking stones) as large as my thumbnail in his ears. His girlfriend had matching ones. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/77 "2010-05-15T20:51:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The only ear ornamentation I have strong opinions on are those accursed ugly quarter (and sometimes larger) sized [ear tunnels](http://tattoo.about.com/b/a/stretchearblog.jpg). I wouldn’t illegalize them except for minors (which I’m guessing is already illegal), but my strong opinions are all based on the “those things are disgusting and a pathetic ‘Look-at-Me’ bid”. They’re not illegal for minors, why would they be? It’s just gauging your ears, to a ridiculous extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/78 "2010-05-16T02:20:04Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I definitely think our brown-skinned people are the only ones who need to be piercing their nostrils with a stud. When white girls do it it looks like a stray booger - you have to be Indian or black to have the stud show up attractively. Nah, it can look nice on paler people too, but you’re right that it often doesn’t. The key issues are nose shape (you need a pretty nose with a delicate nostril curve for a nose stud to be really becoming to you), stud color/shape, and **placement**. The hole should go right at the **point** of the nostril curve. Piercing the edge of the nostril, which some people do so that they can wear a smaller hoop there, really does look like an unwiped booger. [Here](http://kspiercingcom.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/100719724-100545188/Nose_Stud_Jewelry.html) [are](http://www.ael-nose-studs.co.uk/) [some](http://chicks4bloggin.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/nose_piercing_gold_stud1.jpg) [pictures](http://www.saraindia.org/02/the-nose-ring-is-indian-culture-for-women/) of non-dark-skinned people who IMHO are rocking their nose piercing just right. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/79 "2010-05-16T02:27:08Z")
I guess I should be glad my workplace is an equal-opportunity discriminator. Any earring of any kind on any male whether they’re black, white, or plaid, is one of the many Career Death Penalty[sup]TM[/sup] moves. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402/80 "2010-05-16T03:57:13Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Nah, it can look nice on paler people too, but you’re right that it often doesn’t. The key issues are nose shape (you need a pretty nose with a delicate nostril curve for a nose stud to be really becoming to you), stud color/shape, and **placement**. The hole should go right at the **point** of the nostril curve. Piercing the edge of the nostril, which some people do so that they can wear a smaller hoop there, really does look like an unwiped booger. > > [Here](http://kspiercingcom.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/100719724-100545188/Nose_Stud_Jewelry.html) [are](http://www.ael-nose-studs.co.uk/) [some](http://chicks4bloggin.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/nose_piercing_gold_stud1.jpg) [pictures](http://www.saraindia.org/02/the-nose-ring-is-indian-culture-for-women/) of non-dark-skinned people who IMHO are rocking their nose piercing just right. Thank you. I have a nose ring and it certainly doesn’t look like a booger. And it too isn’t on the outer edge of my nostril. Personally, I prefer a stud to a ring, but that’s just me. [This](http://kspiercingcom.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/100719701-100545188/Nose_Stud.html) is sort of what mine looks like. (I need to get another one, though) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-men-and-earrings-can-we-let-it-go-already/539402.md?page=5)