One of the reasons that ear scalpeling first started getting done, is that when someone has their lobes pierced as a baby, it can grow up to be sitting quite low on the lobe both because it’s harder to do perfect placement on a tiny lobe and because the ear changes a little as it grows. As well as the issue of placement, there’s also the issue of consent — is it morally acceptable to modify someone else’s body without their permission, be it circumcision, piercing baby ears, or even coming of age tattooing and ritual ceremonies?
Then there’s also the counter-concern that many professionals face of “well, if I don’t do it, they’ll just go to the mall and have it done badly”… Personally I fall on the “don’t do it” side of the fence, but I can definitely understand why someone would come to the other conclusion. For example, Karla “Pinky” Grimes at No Regrets in Champaign, IL pierced the five week old baby on the left, and the little fellow on the right was done by Tarzan at Edu Tattoo Studio in Rio de Janeiro.
Comments
113 responses to “Piercing Babies”
I can’t count the things that are done simply because everyone else does it.
There are so many things my mother did as a parent that she didn’t question because her mother did it and her mother…
but things change and knowledge on a subject alters- I am really curious if there is meaning behind the *tradition* of piercing a baby.
I might not have had an opinion one way or the other- but having children gives me an automatic answer- I don’t like to see them in pain.
nothing really seems worth it.
i think getting a baby’s ears pierced is purely for the sake of vanity. i think it’s completely wrong and immoral, and i’m appalled whenever see infants with earrings. body modification should be a personal choice, and that is obviously not the case with infant ear piercings.
i don’t really think it’s right, and i’m sure it’s not the case for everyone, but my parents had my ears pierced when i was only weeks old, and i’m definitly glad they did. i never wore earings in elementary school because i was a tomboy and always playing outside and whatnot, but i never had to worry about my holes closing like all of my friends did who had theirs pierced in 4rd or 5th grade.
I was about four months old when my aunts took me to have my ears peirced 🙂 maybe it is a little young but I’m glad they did! Even though they didn’t ask my mums permission 😛 xx
To lauranonymous- some of the time, piercing an infants ear is tradition not vanity. I was born in Iraq and it was traditional to take a baby of a couple of months to get her ears pierced at a pharmacy. Of course body modification is a personal choice…but really…they’re freakin ear piercings! When the girl grows up she’s not exactly going to resent and hate her parents for doing it to her is she? If she doesn’t like the piercing then she can take it out! Isn’t a bit extreme to say you are ‘appalled’ when you see an infant with earrings? Do you think ‘my God I cannot believe that mother did that to her child…she’s a horrible person!’ I hope not! And as for the pain thing everyone goes on about…it probably hurts waaay less than all the vaccinations that babies receive anyway. Its not like you’re imposing a cruel, unbearable pain on your child. More like a quick pinch in each ear (well thats what my 2nd hole felt like) Apparently I barely made a squeak when I got them! And I’m glad my aunts took me! xx
All of you advocating “tradition” as the reason for piercing “babies”, please note that it isn’t “babies in general” getting pierced, it’s ONLY FEMALE BABIES getting pierced. It’s a way to lock your kid in a gender box from day one–like forcing them to only wear pink throughout childhood. I’d be incredibly pissed off if my parents had done that to me.
Plus it eliminates the option of having that person decide to pierce their ears THEMSELVES as their own ritual/tradition later on in life.
Why decide for somebody else and impose on them your preference? I realize that it is a minor thing, but still, why ?
#106 has stated exactly my concern about this. I was pierced at a very young age (before 1), and my holes have never closed, even with years in between ever inserting an earring. I can’t say that I believe my mom was cruel. I understand that it probably never occurred to her that I might not want them and it was just her cultural norm. But I do wish she hadn’t done it. I would have liked for it to have been my choice, and perhaps I would never have chosen to get it done.
What if I had been male identified? The fact that my ears had been pierced to signal my being female may have been really difficult to deal with. Leave the decision to your kids. If you had this done to you and you are happy with it, great. But, don’t assume that will be the case for your kid. And, it’s not necessarily as simple as removing jewelry if they don’t like it. That mod may just be permanent.
It keeps them from getting infections due to the hair being so short and the ears will be completely healed before they know that they are wearing anything so touching won’t cause infection. Most cases they’ll never bother touching the ears. It might be cultural, my mom told me to pierce them while they were babies. I don’t regret it and neither do they.
I do agree about the symmetry because i had my ears pierced at 6 months and then proceed to gauge them to about 2 inches and now i have alot less lobe on my right ear than on my left.
but other than that i dont care.
it didnt affect me growing up.
i honestly thought it was weird that the other kids didnt have earrings.
i think this is awesome…..!!! its your child….if want to pierce their ears soo wut!
people need to get over themselves
Ummm Jen (comment 112), a person’s child is not their property. Parents have guardianship over their children, not ownership, so to say “do what you want to your child” well… considering the other things that some people do this is not a good path to tread.
The thing for me is, when you (general, not specific to anyone here) have a child you have absolutely no idea what sort of person your child will grow up to be, and giving them a potentially permanent mod could lead to regrets, regardless of if it is only an ear piercing. That is why consent is so important for me.
There are religions that impose restrictions against body modification; what would happen if in time your child grew to an adult and wanted to convert to one of those faiths? What if your female child grows up and turns out to be transgendered? The little things like having piercings can be emotionally painful under circumstances like that, because it is a definite “girl” marker that the child cannot get rid of.
Consent to me is an ultimate situation. To those of you citing “it is a tradition” as a reason others should not criticise, can you answer something for me? FGM is a tradition, and the reason for it taking place is to remove sexual desire and ability to have a normal, enjoyable sexual experience so the daughter will be a virgin when married off and will not engage in adultery. Circumcision is a tradition that is excused by somewhat erroneous reasons of “it is cleaner” and “it prevents masturbation”. There are rather extreme genital mutilation rituals in some cultures that are all about coming of age, proving strength, proving courage and an ability to withstand etc. Every true tradition has meaning behind it; either a symbolic meaning, such as coming of age, or a practical meaning.
What are the symbolic or practical reasons for your culture’s tradition of ear piercing? Are there any? Or is it just a case of “everyone does it”?
Personally, I love the aesthetic of body mods – the neck rings, scarification, the skull reshaping of Mayan people, it is all gorgeous. But I disagree with anyone making permanent changes to another’s body without their consent (with the obvious exception of where something is medically necessary – like heart transplants for babies with congenital heart defects etc).
awwww bunny you go on and on…..oh ok i know what my response should be..here we go…
anyone that pierces there babies ears should go to hell or jail because they are horrible people and hate there kids and blah blah blah blah!!!!!!!<3