Many of us have had some kind of piercing or another. One of the most common types of body modification out there is the lobe piercing, it can been seen as a practice that happens all over the globe. The question I want to look at is not where the piercing takes place, but when, and to whom
It is a common practice for parents to have their children’s ears pierced anywhere from infancy to the first few months, specifically girls are the ones getting this done. The internet is full of new parents debating over whether or not they should wait to adorn their baby girl’s ears, or do it before they can remember the pain of it. Religious and cultural norms also affect this decision, as mentioned in this article, many Latin American parents get earrings as a baby shower gift, with the expectation that the baby(girl) will leave the hospital wearing them. That article and many more I’ve read concerning the subject, explicitly use female pronouns when talking about babies and ear piercing, I have yet to see a couple worrying about getting their son’s ears pierced. Another thing this practice shows is the stereotypes that surround body modification culture. Think of your first piercing, it probably took place in a mall or a doctor’s office. Many people avoid tattoo shops because of the stigmas surrounding them when in fact they are they most qualified to give you what you want in the safest way possible.
Would you let these people stick sharp stuff in your 6 month old? You probably should if you’re into that kind of thing.
This also brings up the question of consent. While it is a very common practice, as I mentioned earlier, it is still a form of body modification that involves putting a hole in a person’s body for aesthetics. And just going off my own personal experience with having terrible nickle allergies and just being prone to infection in general. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with a piercing that a baby cannot explain to its parent. Not to mention the vast amounts of misinformation out there about how to actually care for a piercing, but that’s a post for later. There is also an interesting shift where many girls who had their ears pierced before they could give their consent about it suddenly are no longer allowed to get anything else pierced by the same parents when they express an interest in other types of piercings. I’ve known plenty of people who have had to wait until a certain age before they were allowed to say, get their cartilage pierced, and then many more who were never “allowed” to get certain others so they had to do it against their parents permission.
Unruly Bodies 
I was really excited when we started discussing this in class and I’m glad yo brought it up. When I got my ears pierced it was so painful! It was only when I started looking to get my nose pierced that I learned that tattoo parlors were the way to go to get piercings because it was better for the skin and hurt much, much less (it did, too, waaaay less). The healing process was also much faster for my nose than my ears, and I’m glad someone thought of bringing up the consent of parents, and the consent of the children.
Shouldn’t it be considered child abuse if you’re hurting your infant like this before they’re even old enough to say whether or not they want these piercings? We do that to cattle, not children.
Great post, however, I know my tattoo shop doesn’t pierce anyone under 13 even with parental consent. But I agree that these are the people who should be piercing children. Or anyone for that matter.
This was an interesting post because I don’t even remember getting my ears pierced because those were done when I was just an infant and my mother made that decision for me and so I didn’t even get to object to it. However when I became older I did get the chance to make my own decision and that is when I made the decision to get my lip pierced despite my mothers wishes. Piercing a child’s ear although to me it doesn’t matter either way not all parents decide to have their infants ears pierced and they do give their child that option. I just think it all depends on how the parent thinks.