A while back I posted a photo from Geshem of a cute little girl in Thailand with stretched ears (and her brother who’d drawn on his face) and there was some discussion about cultural context and so on. Anyway, I thought it might be nice to put the photo into a family context as well.
Comments
70 responses to “Like mother, like daughter”
i love the picture you psoted of the little girl, this oens even better. Legends
i love the picture you psoted of the little girl, this oens even better. Legends
where in thailand is this stuff coming from?
where in thailand is this stuff coming from?
Awww, the little girl looks so adorable. 🙂 *is jealous of her lobes*
Awww, the little girl looks so adorable. 🙂 *is jealous of her lobes*
What lovely children, I would guess they are from a hill tribe in Thailand.
What lovely children, I would guess they are from a hill tribe in Thailand.
That’s so cute. The boy is still awesome :3
That’s so cute. The boy is still awesome :3
Speaking of which, there is a comment right at the bottom of the little girls with stretched ears page which really disturbs me, I was wondering if you’d seen it Shannon, cos I know you’re not at all cool with that kind of thing.
Speaking of which, there is a comment right at the bottom of the little girls with stretched ears page which really disturbs me, I was wondering if you’d seen it Shannon, cos I know you’re not at all cool with that kind of thing.
Did the mother pierce her stretched lobe (like the actual stretched part got thick enough to have its own piercing)? The little girl is adorable by the way. I wish I lived in a society where stretched lobes were valued and appreciated.
Did the mother pierce her stretched lobe (like the actual stretched part got thick enough to have its own piercing)? The little girl is adorable by the way. I wish I lived in a society where stretched lobes were valued and appreciated.
It looks to me more like she has a ring going through the stretched lobe as well as the plug.
It looks to me more like she has a ring going through the stretched lobe as well as the plug.
I agree with the above!
and thas a really nice picture 😛
shes catching up with her mum 🙂
I agree with the above!
and thas a really nice picture 😛
shes catching up with her mum 🙂
I mean number 7 😛
I mean number 7 😛
I wonder about the double standards in the modding community sometimes. There’s a poll on the BME main page at this moment asking whether or not parents should pierce the ears of their babies. About 2/3 of the responders have said “no”. I’m no expert at etsimating the ages of children, but the girl in this photograph looks pretty young. And the process of stretching her ears had to have started some time ago, since the ears look nice and are at a pretty large size (again, I’m not an expert).
Are this girl’s mods more accepted because we see this as being some part of a distant indigenous culture, therefore in some ways more “right” than Western parents who wish to pierce the ears of their children? If so, then why the cultural snobbery? Piercing the ears of baby girls is a pretty common tradition so I’m not sure why this picture gets lots of positive feedback, then a poll about piercing Western children gets negative feedback.
Maybe I’m not understanding the objections to piercing a baby’s ears. I imagine it could be that A) It was not the child’s choice, so is unethical or B) The health risks. If ethics are the problem, then we should be holding this mother to the same standard, right? I seriously doubt that little girl had any choice in the ear piercing or stretching matter. If it is due to health risks, then fine. Though I know many of us had our ears pierced as a baby and have had absolutely no problems.
Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.
(But wonderful picture. That little boy is adorable.)
I wonder about the double standards in the modding community sometimes. There’s a poll on the BME main page at this moment asking whether or not parents should pierce the ears of their babies. About 2/3 of the responders have said “no”. I’m no expert at etsimating the ages of children, but the girl in this photograph looks pretty young. And the process of stretching her ears had to have started some time ago, since the ears look nice and are at a pretty large size (again, I’m not an expert).
Are this girl’s mods more accepted because we see this as being some part of a distant indigenous culture, therefore in some ways more “right” than Western parents who wish to pierce the ears of their children? If so, then why the cultural snobbery? Piercing the ears of baby girls is a pretty common tradition so I’m not sure why this picture gets lots of positive feedback, then a poll about piercing Western children gets negative feedback.
Maybe I’m not understanding the objections to piercing a baby’s ears. I imagine it could be that A) It was not the child’s choice, so is unethical or B) The health risks. If ethics are the problem, then we should be holding this mother to the same standard, right? I seriously doubt that little girl had any choice in the ear piercing or stretching matter. If it is due to health risks, then fine. Though I know many of us had our ears pierced as a baby and have had absolutely no problems.
Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.
(But wonderful picture. That little boy is adorable.)
All things have a context…
All things have a context…
It’s NOT right to pierce a baby’s earlobes. (In my opinion)
I will pierce the earlobes of a child if THEY can ask me for it and understand I’m going to be putting a needle through their lobe. Sometimes that means they’re 8, sometimes that means they’re 3.
People would be so outraged to know a mother pierced the ears of her baby. American or Thai.
A lot of people would be so outraged to know a mother was raising her children in a mud hut in the African wastelands…
The difference is that most “western” families understand the risks and ethical strains involved in a procedure like lobe piercing and circumcision.
Chances are, this Thai family only knows their cultural tradition where coming of age, or whatever is piercing the child’s ears or scarring their body, etc.
They don’t hop in their Ford Windstar and hit up ballet classes to show all the other little girls how “girlie” and like all the other little girls their daughter is.
It’s NOT right to pierce a baby’s earlobes. (In my opinion)
I will pierce the earlobes of a child if THEY can ask me for it and understand I’m going to be putting a needle through their lobe. Sometimes that means they’re 8, sometimes that means they’re 3.
People would be so outraged to know a mother pierced the ears of her baby. American or Thai.
A lot of people would be so outraged to know a mother was raising her children in a mud hut in the African wastelands…
The difference is that most “western” families understand the risks and ethical strains involved in a procedure like lobe piercing and circumcision.
Chances are, this Thai family only knows their cultural tradition where coming of age, or whatever is piercing the child’s ears or scarring their body, etc.
They don’t hop in their Ford Windstar and hit up ballet classes to show all the other little girls how “girlie” and like all the other little girls their daughter is.
Thanks to Shannon and Lexci for their replies to my comment.
If, for example, a family living in the US (allowing they have been exposed to other cultures and understand risks/other ethical points of view on the matter) is from a non-Western cultural background where it is the norm to pierce the ears of a baby, do you believe that they are looked upon less harshly for practicing this? Should their involvement in a society that has conflicting views about this sort of practice restrict them from doing this?
If so, then I have no further comments on the matter.
If not, then I don’t feel we have the right to pass judgment on ANY reasons behind a parent wanting to pierce their child’s ears. It is totally within the rights–and should be–for a piercer to deny performing any procedure on a child so young, but the stigma toward parents who have this done seems undeserved. Aesthetics, to some, are at the very heart of body modification. And as we know, beauty is often dictated by our surrounding culture. The reasoning behind the Thai mother’s choice and the US mother’s choice might be slightly different, but in the end reflect their culture’s views on what is acceptable modification. And in the end, neither child ever had a choice in the matter.
Thanks to Shannon and Lexci for their replies to my comment.
If, for example, a family living in the US (allowing they have been exposed to other cultures and understand risks/other ethical points of view on the matter) is from a non-Western cultural background where it is the norm to pierce the ears of a baby, do you believe that they are looked upon less harshly for practicing this? Should their involvement in a society that has conflicting views about this sort of practice restrict them from doing this?
If so, then I have no further comments on the matter.
If not, then I don’t feel we have the right to pass judgment on ANY reasons behind a parent wanting to pierce their child’s ears. It is totally within the rights–and should be–for a piercer to deny performing any procedure on a child so young, but the stigma toward parents who have this done seems undeserved. Aesthetics, to some, are at the very heart of body modification. And as we know, beauty is often dictated by our surrounding culture. The reasoning behind the Thai mother’s choice and the US mother’s choice might be slightly different, but in the end reflect their culture’s views on what is acceptable modification. And in the end, neither child ever had a choice in the matter.
the little girl is so sweet
the little girl is so sweet
I’m not going to go into questioning the morality of this, but I think its adoreable and the culture factor is really interesting.
I’m taking community college classes, anthro/socio/psych/hist and the classes all sort of overlap conceptually (sp?) Well, I was thinking about this and then look at this posting and I thought about how AMAZING it would be to study these sort of practices for a living. Gosh that would be so cool – but I’ve no idea how you get started in such a profession.
I’m not going to go into questioning the morality of this, but I think its adoreable and the culture factor is really interesting.
I’m taking community college classes, anthro/socio/psych/hist and the classes all sort of overlap conceptually (sp?) Well, I was thinking about this and then look at this posting and I thought about how AMAZING it would be to study these sort of practices for a living. Gosh that would be so cool – but I’ve no idea how you get started in such a profession.
my mom had my ears pierced when i was 9 months old. now that i’m 22 and tattooed (they don’t like my tattoos very much) it’s a good come back when they ask why i have to have tattoos. they don’t really have an answer when i ask why they had to pierce my ears…
my mom had my ears pierced when i was 9 months old. now that i’m 22 and tattooed (they don’t like my tattoos very much) it’s a good come back when they ask why i have to have tattoos. they don’t really have an answer when i ask why they had to pierce my ears…
both myself and my little sister had our ears pierced at 6 months, it’s traditional in my mom’s family that little girls have they’re ears pierced before they even leave the hospital.
That being said, we weren’t allowed to get any other piercings until we could tell our dad (the stricter of the two) how to properly take car of them
both myself and my little sister had our ears pierced at 6 months, it’s traditional in my mom’s family that little girls have they’re ears pierced before they even leave the hospital.
That being said, we weren’t allowed to get any other piercings until we could tell our dad (the stricter of the two) how to properly take car of them
If the comment at the end of the other page is a joke, it’s not a good one. Shannon, I know you don’t believe in removing horrible/insulting posts from Modblog, but could you reconsider? It’s not like a lot of people on the “most commented on” entries will understand intelligent comebacks etc!
I don’t have an IAM page at the moment, but I wouldn’t mind not being able to comment here till I do. I just think that trolls/anonymous morons have enough places to congregate on t’internet.
Sorry if this has been discussed before 🙂
Piercing babies’ ears, no, but there’s nothing wrong with asking a 3-year-old whether it wants it done. Giving little children inessential decisions is good for them. 🙂
If the comment at the end of the other page is a joke, it’s not a good one. Shannon, I know you don’t believe in removing horrible/insulting posts from Modblog, but could you reconsider? It’s not like a lot of people on the “most commented on” entries will understand intelligent comebacks etc!
I don’t have an IAM page at the moment, but I wouldn’t mind not being able to comment here till I do. I just think that trolls/anonymous morons have enough places to congregate on t’internet.
Sorry if this has been discussed before 🙂
Piercing babies’ ears, no, but there’s nothing wrong with asking a 3-year-old whether it wants it done. Giving little children inessential decisions is good for them. 🙂
That’s awesome.
That’s awesome.
Em – starting to wonder if one of us is the sock-puppet of the other, but I feel the same way.
Em – starting to wonder if one of us is the sock-puppet of the other, but I feel the same way.
Our standards and cultural symbols are extremely different to those of people living in societies such as the hill tribes of Thailand. The stretching of an ear lobe in the west is very different to the stretching of one in the east.
Both the context and significance have to be understood before any judgement can take place.
Our standards and cultural symbols are extremely different to those of people living in societies such as the hill tribes of Thailand. The stretching of an ear lobe in the west is very different to the stretching of one in the east.
Both the context and significance have to be understood before any judgement can take place.
For them, girls who were born on wednesdays stretch their lobes.
And my mother refuses to tell me why is it that girls who were born on wednesdays stretch their lobes. And i’m also not sure if they were given a choice or not.
For them, girls who were born on wednesdays stretch their lobes.
And my mother refuses to tell me why is it that girls who were born on wednesdays stretch their lobes. And i’m also not sure if they were given a choice or not.
I do not agree with this. I don’t care if it is there tradition.
I do not agree with this. I don’t care if it is there tradition.
aww
aww