IMO, there is a difference. There is usually a reason behind cultural traditions. That makes the piercing have a deeper meaning than decorating your infant. I don’t see anyone saying that a “reputable facility” needs to be in the USA, other than yourself.
I’m assuming since you went to India for your Aunt’s wedding that getting your ears pierced had a cultural significance. If it doesn’t then I still hold my opinion and your parents made a bad choice by getting your ears pierced.
I have no idea where the rest of your post came from. Sounds like you got the idea that Kinsey was implying that cultures that have this tradition are barbaric, and I got quite the opposite impression. Now if you feel that you were raised in a barbaric culture, then you have some issues to deal with.
My daughter’s ears were pierced when she was 6 months. Her pediatrician recommended a place that was good. I thought she looked cute. She had diamond studs, they never came out unless I took them out, her ears never got infected and she doesn’t harbor any resentment towards me for having it done.
My ears weren’t pierced until I was 12. I was responsible for keeping them clean and turning them. They got infected.
I can’t believe people have such strong feelings about this subject. Mutilation? Does this mean that parents that have their child’s ear(s) pierced are abusing them? Should the parents be declared unfit? What about cutting the child’s hair? That isn’t necessary and doesn’t really serve any purpose either.
First of all, I never said anything about “reputable facilities.”
Second, for someone who is Indian, it’s different. It’s part of the culture and religion. Are you Indian?
I teach Kindergarten at a snooty private school. I see lots of little girls, or younger baby sisters of students with pierced ears, done simply because the mom thinks it’s “cute” or because her friend had her baby’s ears pierced. When it’s done just because Mom wants to buy diamond studs for her newborn or to compete with her friends, I think that is ridiculous. That, in my opinion, is being done just for decoration.
What about cultures where scarification is common? (Also, that link has general information about other body modifications. This question is just for curiosity’s sake.
Well, you know, I’m all for ranting about general, not-too-critical topics in the Pit and all, but I also think there’s a lot of stuff that people do to their children that falls under “ridiculous, indefensible, and silly” that’s a bit more worthy of our general ire. And NO, I’m not trying to be the arbiter of what’s rantable, I’m just saying that some cultural practices are more defensible, shall we say, than others.
First, yes, I’m Indian. Second: It’s also done just for decoration when performed as part of a naming ritual. Except the naming ritual involves going to a temple and having a priest do the piercing rather than a pediatrician. The procedure is similar, the outcome is the same. I’m still not seeing why it’s evil if Mom here in the States does it because she thinks it looks good, but it’s ok that my parents had it done. If McKenna and we were in preschool together, and we both had our ears pierced, you would assume that it was part of an ages old ritual for me, as the little Indian kid, and that McKenna’s mom was simply a shallow yuppie? I can’ t agree with that, sorry. Motivation aside, in the end, both kids have their ears pierced at a young age. Is that, in and of itself, reprehensible?
What is the difference? Just as I asked Kinsey, I’m asking you. What makes something which you usually think of as ridiculous, justified, if it’s part of a ritual? As I was taught, ear piercings are supposed to not only encourage blood flow to the brain, but also ward off evil spirits. Is that the reason why it’s ok for me to have my ears pierced as an infant, but not the white kid next to me?
Heh. I’ve got some issues with the culture, but none of them have to do with ear piercing. Then again, I have issues with just about every culture, and none of them deal with ear piercing either. <shrug>
Quick aside: While digging up links, Google popped up a site about lemurs. Weird.
Had my daughter’s ears pierced when she was about eight months old. This was about two minutes after I had one of mine pierced. I had mine done partly to reassure myself it would not hurt for her (it didn’t for me - at all), and just because I thought it looked cool - for me and for her.
No problems for her or for me. No infections, no problems losing earrings, and she and my wife and I occasionally argue about who is going to wear my wife’s diamond studs.
If you don’t like it, feel free to save up the energy involved and apply it to something significant, like world hunger or female genital mutilation.
Or express your opinion on how I am raising my children. I will certainly give your opinion the respect and attention it deserves.
<sigh> I even previewed. Alas, IRL obligations are dragging me away from the keyboard by my (pierced) ear, so I won’t be able to be back to this thread until later this afternoon.
I thought I explained that, but apparently not clear enough. The difference is simple to me. If it is part of a culture then it probably has a deeper, possibly spiritual meaning to it. The ritual of piercing ears contributes to the childs religious practices. It has a tangible benefit in relation to the religion.
However, the person who takes their infant to get their ears pierce simply because they feel it looks nice is being shallow. They are doing something to their child that has no benefit to the child later in life. Sure, it may not harm them, but it it doesn’t have any benefit either.
There is a difference between something have a cultural or religious significance and something done simply out of materialism.
Shodan: Why if this topic is so trivial did you feel the need to chime in then?
Let me add something else to this discussion which may wind up needing to be a thread of its own somewhere. Many parents – and doctors, often – will take their babies to a salon or mall store that pierces ears with guns and studs. Piercing guns are FAR more dangerous than conventional wisdom holds them to be. The kind that are most prevalent are spring-loaded and force a blunt object into the flesh. These can cause a splatter effect, causing flesh, blood, and pus to get on the gun. Piercing guns are NOT sterilised between uses; they’re made of plastic and therefore can’t be autoclaved, which is just about the only acceptable sterilisation process for tools for body modification. They can be wiped down between uses, sure, but that won’t take away all infectious diseases that might be borne in the tissue that can be spread on the gun in the aforementioned splatter effect. It is possible to get any kind of bloodborne pathogen from piercing guns, just as it’s possible to get HepB and so on from unclean tattoo and piercing studios. Add to that the trauma of blunt object being forced through flesh at a high speed, the fact that the backings to stud-style ear piercings can harbour bacteria that lengthen healing time and promote infection, and you have that, IMHO, being pierced with a gun is a not a wise choice for anyone to make, for themselves never mind their children. If parents want to pierce their children’s ears, therefore, they should take the infant to a reputable piercing studio and get ears pierced with a needle. Almost all studios I’ve ever heard of won’t pierce infants for the reason I mentioned above – body modification needs to be a choice you make yourself, and an understanding of what you’re undertaking needs to be had. That, and ironically enough, a lot of parents think of tattoo and piercing studios as unclean and think exactly the opposite of mall stores. Completely amazes me.
Cite Cite
And, from BME, a great authority on body modification of all kinds: Another cite
There used to be a CDC article about piercing guns, but their search engine doesn’t seem to want to return it for me. I know that’d be the most reputable place I could come up with support for my argument, but sadly it’s not cooperating with me.
Took a quick look through, but I don’t imagine we’ll see many, if any, cultures ritually scarring their newborns (I believe large scars can deform a body in development, I may be wrong) Would I approve of such a thing, even if it were cultural? No.
An older person who undergoes ritual scarification would have some idea as to the risks involved and (ideally) would be able to give consent.
I guess my main problem with this whole OP is that the person who is receiving the piercing, the child, cannot possibly give its consent. Sorry if some of you don’t agree with that. I will, quite simply, wait until my child is of an age to choose for him/herself.
My sister got my baby neice’s ears pierced at a very young age because Katie was bald as could be and my sister got tired of hearing “What a cute little boy!” if she didn’t happen to be all in pink. The earrings definately made her look much more little girlish.
(Do not flame me- I am but a reporter. I do not have children, and if I did, I would not pierce their ears!)
Sorry, racinchikki, but ear piercing IS permanent.
I have 11 holes in my ears–all in the lobes. I only use 2 (one in each ear) now, and haven’t touched the other holes in years and years. But the holes haven’t disappeared. It’s rare, but every now and again one hole or another develops an infection or has some discharge.
Piercings don’t just go away.
I will not pierce my child’s ears until he/she is old enough to ask. My piercings were my idea, and the repurcussions are mine to deal with.
Sorry, Green Bean. I’ve had my ears pierced six times. Had one set done when I was four. Stopped wearing them when I was eight. Got them re-pierced at 10 because they’d healed. Got a second set when I was thirteen; stopped wearing earrings in them when I was 15; they healed. Got those re-pierced and got a third set on my 17th birthday; I’m coming up on 19 now and the second and third holes have healed over again. I just assumed that ear piercing is impermanent on everybody. Apparently I just have freaky ears.
I will not get my daughter’s ears pierced until she asks for it to be done and assures me she will take care of them. Who knows, she may decide to be a rebel and be the last female under 40 without pierced ears in America. My son, on the other hand, will not be allowed to pierce one or both of his ears before the age of 18. Call me old fashioned but somehow I don’t see him captaining a ship and going down with it before that age. I don’t look down upon anyone who has had it done to their kids, I just choose not to.
My mom made me wait until my 11th birthday to get my ears pierced. There are times I wish she had been able to talk me out of it instead of letting me rush out to conform and be assimilated.
In southern California, it seems to be a cultural thing for Hispanic baby girls to have their ears pierced. I don’t think it’s a Catholic thing, just an Hispanic thing. I personally don’t care, but I know people who think it’s trashy, like my mom.
I got my ears pierced when I was 9 or 10, because I wanted them. I love them, I subsequently got more as an adult, and they would close up if I didn’t keep putting earrings in them. My brother’s also close up when he doesn’t wear earrings.
We were talking one day about piercing babies’ ears, and a friend of mine had a great idea. If you aren’t opposed to having their ears pierced, why not wait anyway? Then, when the kid asks, it can be a battle they think they win with the stogy old parents! Just don’t snicker until they leave the room!
If either of my sons wants his ear pierced, I suppose it will depend on his maturity level (can he take decent care of the piercing), whether or not his school allows boys to wear earrings as part of the dress code (many don’t), and why he wants it. But I am not generally opposed. How can I be, with 7 ear piercings, though I don’t wear them all anymore, just the bottom one in each ear and my upper cartilage pierce.
I wouldn’t put my baby in pain because it looks cute… It has to hurt on an infant… It hurt me (not a lot, but it does hurt) when I was 12. I will wait until she knows it hurts and still wants it!
What would your mom say if she knew that you called her trasy?
I opened up this thread to say that I was against ear peircings for young children. After reading the posts, I say, have at it. Don’t you buy all kinds of things for your kids to wear just because it makes them look cute? Sure this is a “body modification” but lets get some perspective here. It’s a friggin’ earring. If at any time any party doesn’t like it, they can take it out no problem.
My oldest daughter is 5, and I am thinking of letting her do it pretty much as soon as she’s ready.
I won’t do it to babies, 'cause I think it looks silly, but more power to you if you want to.
