# Conservative Dopers- would this bother you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938 "2011-06-10T02:52:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/41 "2011-06-10T05:34:42Z")
Assuming you’re talking about a nose stud & not a septum bar or ring (“Toro!”), it wouldn’t bother me all that much. I know some hot Christian conservative ladies who have nose studs & professional careers. Now, if you were a Dad asking this question, my mileage would vary. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/42 "2011-06-10T05:48:29Z")
I think geography is going to be fairly important in answering your question. A Christian school in California is going to be different than a Christian school in Mississippi. I’d say it depends on what’s “normal” in the rest of the community. If the area you live in is such that lots of people are pierced or tattooed, it will probably go without mention. If you live in a very conservative area, where piercings separate the “normal” people from the “ne’er do wells” you might want to rethink it. [aside] I was shopping today, and one of the sales people had “Ho” tattooed on her neck. Very visibly. I’m usually more on the live & let live side when it comes to other people’s body art. But that was a tattoo that needed to be rethought.[/aside] ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/43 "2011-06-10T06:59:53Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > You’re comparing [this](http://www.qpiercing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/nostril-piercing-procedure.jpg) to [this](http://www.mynewhair.info/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/07-mohawk.jpg) in terms of rebellion? Really? The difference to me is a matter of degree. Of course when you compare the most outlandish example you can find of one thing, to the least noticeable and most discrete example of another thing, you can make the comparison look silly. Nose piercings give me the impression of rebellious youth. It’s just an opinion, and I’m aware that many people don’t agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/44 "2011-06-10T07:02:08Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > It would bother me. Piercings like that are indicative of psychological problems. The hell? Please tell me you’re joking. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/45 "2011-06-10T10:51:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > The problem is, you say all that, but when you walk through the mall or take your kid to school the only thing people know about you is what they see on your skin and apparently to some people that means you have psychological problems, you belong in an African tribe, you’re immature or worse…you’ll never have a corporate job :eek: or a good job on the east coast (I don’t know which one we decided it you can’t get with a nose ring). When you MAKE the choice to put something on your FACE that draws someone’s attention, you’re giving people reason to judge you. If the attention or people not choosing to take you seriously annoys you, you could always remove it. You have the right to express yourself however you want, everyone else has the right to interpret your expression who sees you. Tough cookies if my interpretation isn’t how you want to be seen. You decided to let people make such assumptions about you when you got a big sign on your face that says “LOOK AT ME!”. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/46 "2011-06-10T11:24:13Z")
I meet a lot of women with small nose studs; it’s about as controversial as pierced ears here. Nose rings, septum piercings, lip rings or eyebrow piercings are more jarring and likely to cause comment but a discreet nose stud? Not an issue, even in high-powered corporate circles. But this is London, which is quite cosmopolitan in some ways. Plus I think the high (South) Asian population reinforces the acceptability of the look. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/47 "2011-06-10T11:40:38Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I wouldn’t care personally but I’d think it very hideous and unbecoming of a civilized human being considering we are not some obscure tribe in the Amazons. You do realize you contradicted yourself there? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/48 "2011-06-10T12:01:09Z")
I’m not a fan of them, but it wouldn’t bother me at all. Certainly not something I’d ever choose to do, but I don’t think it gives any more insight into a person than the colour of a t-shirt they’re wearing does. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/49 "2011-06-10T12:04:37Z")
My mom is near retirement age, and works in a fairly conservative Federal government office in a small town. She doesn’t have face piercings, but does have five piercings in each ear, which some may see as excessive. Then again, we’re all like, hippies out here in the PNW, man. Maybe I’ll get her some of those ear widener plate things that are all the rage in African tribes for her birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/50 "2011-06-10T12:08:15Z")
> [@Moirai](#): > > If you are Christian or otherwise conservative, would it bother you if the mom of a nice kid at school had a pierced nose? I’m leaning towards the European Far Right ™ and I really wouldn’t give a damn at all. But then again, I’m myself multiply tattooed, so whatever. ETA : " psychological problems" :rolleyes: ? I’d say that believing in ‘God’ is a far, far greater psychological problem. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/51 "2011-06-10T12:27:04Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > The difference to me is a matter of degree. Of course when you compare the _most outlandish example you can find of one thing_, to the least noticeable and most discrete example of another thing, you can make the comparison look silly. Honestly, I went to Google Images, typed Orange Mohawk, it’s the first thing that came up. If you don’t like my comparison, why don’t you show me exactly what you had in mind when you compared nose piercings to orange mohawks? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/52 "2011-06-10T12:36:44Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > Where I live (on the East coast), you can’t get a professional job with facial body art. Even high end retail jobs will not hire you. Maybe in other parts of the country it’s different, but not here. I don’t consider bank teller to be a great job, but you can’t do that either here. Well where I live (Texas, fervent hotbed of conservatism, or so they say) you can very easily have piercings, be gay and quite nelly, or be a redneck and wear boots every day, and still have important jobs at multi-billion dollar companies. I see it every day at the one where I work. I think like others have said, it’s all about the image that the company’s trying to portray and how you fit into it. I used to work for a mid-sized consulting company based in NYC, and I didn’t fit in, because I didn’t fit the look they were going for. I stayed within the dress code that was published, but because I refused to wear solid-color dress shirts, black, gray or brown dress pants, and lace-up dress shoes, I tended to get the stink-eye. (I tended toward patterned buttondowns, khakis and either cowboy boots or more casual shoes). However, a woman who had her act together clothing wise and who was moderately attractive would have caught far less hell for a discreet nose stud than I did for my cowboy boots (which were shined up nicely, BTW). Having gone to a christian school (Jesuit), I wouldn’t care in the least if the parents at my child’s school had piercings, and it wouldn’t bother me if they were friends with the pierced person’s kids. ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/53 "2011-06-10T12:36:50Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I think it’s more likely that opinions like that are indicative of psychological problems. 😃 Indubitably. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/54 "2011-06-10T12:40:44Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I wouldn’t care personally but I’d think it very hideous and unbecoming of a civilized human being considering we are not some obscure tribe in the Amazons. I’ve known educated & civilized Indian ladies with pierced noses. But thanks for illustrating the small-minded attitudes the OP is dealing with! She probably ought to hold off with the nose piercing & work to get her kids out of such a stifling environment. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/55 "2011-06-10T12:55:55Z")
Were I female, I’d consider getting a small nose stud, like the one [post=13898856]in this post[/post]. I think they look lovely. They just don’t work on guys, though, so that’s out. And while I wouldn’t consider myself conservative politically or socially, I do tend towards conservatism in terms of dress and appearance. Not that this answers the OP, because I’m also not Christian (or religious at all), nor American. Perhaps she’d have more luck among Hindus. ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/56 "2011-06-10T13:01:05Z")
OP, as long as you don’t go all out [Jane Child](http://lyricsfever.net/images/j/jane-child--img-md4fa78e103652b842f6f3eae5b117acd.jpg), I think your boy should be all right. And, seriously, _fuck_ anyone who’s shallow enough to insist that their special snowflake(s) avoid your son simply because of his mom’s fashion choices. You and your son will be much better off without having to socialize with those bloody shitstains anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/57 "2011-06-10T13:17:01Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > When you MAKE the choice to put something on your FACE that draws someone’s attention, you’re giving people reason to judge you. If the attention or people not choosing to take you seriously annoys you, you could always remove it. You have the right to express yourself however you want, everyone else has the right to interpret your expression who sees you. Tough cookies if my interpretation isn’t how you want to be seen. You decided to let people make such assumptions about you when you got a big sign on your face that says “LOOK AT ME!”. The type of small nose stud (like I linked to) is hardly a LOOK AT ME sign along the lines of [this](http://www.just-pierceit.com/SeptumPiercingThumb.jpg) but if you want to judge people for having done that, it’s okay, you’re allowed to do that. But you also have to realize, other, more open minded people are going to judge _you_ for making judgments based on bodywork. Just remember, you decided you know something about a person based on what’s on their skin. We’re making judgments based on how you think. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/58 "2011-06-10T13:28:27Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > This thread is going to make me rip out the next facial piercing I see. hehe For someone trying to grab the moral high ground, the jokes about assaulting innocent bystanders don’t seem to fit into your idiom. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/59 "2011-06-10T13:29:28Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > What job does such an adult work at? Not a corporate one. A lot of people at the corporate office where I work have their noses pierced. Fortune 500 Retailer in the Chicago area. ---
**Author:** ![Dietrich\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@Dietrich\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dietrich_K)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938/60 "2011-06-10T13:30:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > We’re making judgments based on how you think. Word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-dopers-would-this-bother-you/584938.md?page=4)