A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Cry Baby

I vaguely remember crying this much when I first had my ears pierced, I’ve toughened up a bit in the ten years since then though.

Humour aside if it were my kid (or if I were the piercer for that matter) I really would have to search myself very hard for any reason why it would be necessary or fair to pierce someone so young, someone that still isn’t able to control bodily functions most adults take for granted, let alone decide if it’s what they want. It certainly can’t be so they’re popular at nursery school, or because “all the other babies are doing it”.

Granted the physical trauma is minimal but I just don’t believe a baby belongs in a piercing environment, at all..

No offence to the mother (I’m assuming she’s the mother) in the photo but seeing my child in obvious distress, whether it be through physical pain, emotional stress or otherwise, would definitely lead me to reassess any decision that caused that distress, for a decade or so anyway.

I’m sure posting this will restart the “should kids be pierced” debate, so click the previous links then come back here if you feel like taking part or shouting at each other. Just don’t take the last two seriously..

Comments

476 responses to “Cry Baby”

  1. Warborn Avatar
    Warborn

    that mom needs to be cock smacked in the face over and over then gagged for that

  2. Warborn Avatar
    Warborn

    that mom needs to be cock smacked in the face over and over then gagged for that

  3. Squirrelgirl Avatar
    Squirrelgirl

    Ersalot- Sorry! Maybe I was wrong. I see it referred to as a virus but I guess it isn’t! Shit, I don’t know. But I do know that it is something that is very serious and can be spread in the environment we are talking about! But like I said before, we are on the same side! No hard feelings? 🙂

  4. Squirrelgirl Avatar
    Squirrelgirl

    Ersalot- Sorry! Maybe I was wrong. I see it referred to as a virus but I guess it isn’t! Shit, I don’t know. But I do know that it is something that is very serious and can be spread in the environment we are talking about! But like I said before, we are on the same side! No hard feelings? 🙂

  5. Noadi Avatar

    MRSA = Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
    It’s a bacteria, not a virus. They are totally different and no one with any medical training at all would consider a bacteria a virus.

  6. Noadi Avatar

    MRSA = Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
    It’s a bacteria, not a virus. They are totally different and no one with any medical training at all would consider a bacteria a virus.

  7. DeadlyPoison Avatar

    i shall say it again very simply – wait until they are old enough to ask…my friend had her ears pierced when she was 4 months old, when she was 10 she took them out and has never worn them since – simply because she was never asked if she wanted it.

    moving on i personally wish to bitch slap the mother that did that to their child. if i had children i would hate to see them in any pain and it breaks my heart to see that baby screaming, i wanna reach into the picture and comfort the poor thing.

  8. DeadlyPoison Avatar

    i shall say it again very simply – wait until they are old enough to ask…my friend had her ears pierced when she was 4 months old, when she was 10 she took them out and has never worn them since – simply because she was never asked if she wanted it.

    moving on i personally wish to bitch slap the mother that did that to their child. if i had children i would hate to see them in any pain and it breaks my heart to see that baby screaming, i wanna reach into the picture and comfort the poor thing.

  9. Bunny Avatar
    Bunny

    It’s a baby..yeah it’s horrible…but they will never remember it..they may cry for a while afterward…but they won’t remember it in the long run..
    I had my ears pierced in when I was just a little baby and when I was 11 or 12 I decided that I wanted second lobe piercings…I cried before I got them done because I didn’t know if they were going to hurt or not…Because I had absolutely no memory of the first set…And once the first one was done it didn’t hurt and everything was okey..
    So yeah you could wait…but it’s not really going to hurt you baby if you get it done when they are very young..they won’t remember it and if they don’t want the piercings…they don’t want them…two tiny holes in the ear is probably going to be the least of their worries once they get older…

  10. Bunny Avatar
    Bunny

    It’s a baby..yeah it’s horrible…but they will never remember it..they may cry for a while afterward…but they won’t remember it in the long run..
    I had my ears pierced in when I was just a little baby and when I was 11 or 12 I decided that I wanted second lobe piercings…I cried before I got them done because I didn’t know if they were going to hurt or not…Because I had absolutely no memory of the first set…And once the first one was done it didn’t hurt and everything was okey..
    So yeah you could wait…but it’s not really going to hurt you baby if you get it done when they are very young..they won’t remember it and if they don’t want the piercings…they don’t want them…two tiny holes in the ear is probably going to be the least of their worries once they get older…

  11. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    Wrong thats wat I think, little baby who can’t even talk yet shouldn’t be getting pierced

  12. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    Wrong thats wat I think, little baby who can’t even talk yet shouldn’t be getting pierced

  13. Lucas Reichennek Avatar
    Lucas Reichennek

    Anyone that is complaining about the pain, anyone over 10 shouldn’t cry, Ear piercings don’t really hurt lobes are soft, fatty blood vessel filled things they heal extremely quickly and with minimal complications this can be done at anytime That the person is fully capable of practicing proper hygene and is able to stand and shower while in the healing process i’m just trying to comprehend how you’re suspose to keep them properly cleaned in the traditional bathing scenario for babies, yes i was afraid to get my ears pierced at 17, but seriously it was nothing.

  14. Lucas Reichennek Avatar
    Lucas Reichennek

    Anyone that is complaining about the pain, anyone over 10 shouldn’t cry, Ear piercings don’t really hurt lobes are soft, fatty blood vessel filled things they heal extremely quickly and with minimal complications this can be done at anytime That the person is fully capable of practicing proper hygene and is able to stand and shower while in the healing process i’m just trying to comprehend how you’re suspose to keep them properly cleaned in the traditional bathing scenario for babies, yes i was afraid to get my ears pierced at 17, but seriously it was nothing.

  15. Tamsin Avatar
    Tamsin

    I can understand from the culture point of view, although I can’t really comment as I do not know WHY this baby got pierced, I would like to know the answer from the parent! I think it’s way too young, I begged for my ears to be pierced for over a year and got them done when I was 7 years old, it was with a gun as my parents wouldn’t know any better (and still wouldn’t) and they healed well, and luckily for me had a good placement. I see so many kids at school with gun pierced lobes and many also have weird placements, like right on the edge of the lobe or just wonky…I can’t see how you could get away with that!

  16. Tamsin Avatar
    Tamsin

    I can understand from the culture point of view, although I can’t really comment as I do not know WHY this baby got pierced, I would like to know the answer from the parent! I think it’s way too young, I begged for my ears to be pierced for over a year and got them done when I was 7 years old, it was with a gun as my parents wouldn’t know any better (and still wouldn’t) and they healed well, and luckily for me had a good placement. I see so many kids at school with gun pierced lobes and many also have weird placements, like right on the edge of the lobe or just wonky…I can’t see how you could get away with that!

  17. Stormchaser Avatar

    Squirrelgirl:
    MRSA is a nasty bacterium (as called already, Streptococcus aureus, the typical wound infecting bacteria causing pus and abscess formation, often colonizing skin / muzcous skin permanently without any symptom).
    So…. Not too nasty, if you are healthy (your immune systeme will win, after a while), but if not – the bad thing with that germ is, that it is resistant against almost everything our medicine has in the drawer to fight back bacterial infection. With MRSA you’re literarely back in the “good old times” before antibiotics were developed.
    If not can happen, if you need intensive medicine, massive surgery and so on. Up to 50% of intensive medical patients in US faces meanwhile infection with MSRA (in the time after surgery, before healing is done, while the body is weak, the germ attacks).

    Insterile piercings may (will?) lead to infections with Staphylococcus species (one of them are Streptococcus sp.). Pus formation is a good hint.
    In case of MRSA the germ will find niches in the skin but outside the body (or in the mucous skin of the nose) and wait…. If you’re weak it comes back…

  18. Stormchaser Avatar

    Squirrelgirl:
    MRSA is a nasty bacterium (as called already, Streptococcus aureus, the typical wound infecting bacteria causing pus and abscess formation, often colonizing skin / muzcous skin permanently without any symptom).
    So…. Not too nasty, if you are healthy (your immune systeme will win, after a while), but if not – the bad thing with that germ is, that it is resistant against almost everything our medicine has in the drawer to fight back bacterial infection. With MRSA you’re literarely back in the “good old times” before antibiotics were developed.
    If not can happen, if you need intensive medicine, massive surgery and so on. Up to 50% of intensive medical patients in US faces meanwhile infection with MSRA (in the time after surgery, before healing is done, while the body is weak, the germ attacks).

    Insterile piercings may (will?) lead to infections with Staphylococcus species (one of them are Streptococcus sp.). Pus formation is a good hint.
    In case of MRSA the germ will find niches in the skin but outside the body (or in the mucous skin of the nose) and wait…. If you’re weak it comes back…

  19. JMaslar Avatar
    JMaslar

    My children – when I have them – will be able to choose to get pierced, once they are old enough and responsible enough to take care of it themselves. Not that I would ever deny help, just they need to be able to maintain it on their own.

  20. JMaslar Avatar
    JMaslar

    My children – when I have them – will be able to choose to get pierced, once they are old enough and responsible enough to take care of it themselves. Not that I would ever deny help, just they need to be able to maintain it on their own.

  21. DustPuppy Avatar

    It’s fairly normal where I come from. Though not on babies, my parents got my ears pierced when I was 4 years old, cause grandma brought earings for my birthday. Ears are pretty common, I don’t really know anyone who doesn’t have them pierced.

  22. DustPuppy Avatar

    It’s fairly normal where I come from. Though not on babies, my parents got my ears pierced when I was 4 years old, cause grandma brought earings for my birthday. Ears are pretty common, I don’t really know anyone who doesn’t have them pierced.

  23. RooRaaah Crumbs Avatar

    Stormchaser – I contracted MRSA during a lengthy hospital stay a few years back, it was pretty scary as I’m immune compromised and it was during the time that you couldn’t open a newspaper or watch the news without hearing horror stories.

  24. RooRaaah Crumbs Avatar

    Stormchaser – I contracted MRSA during a lengthy hospital stay a few years back, it was pretty scary as I’m immune compromised and it was during the time that you couldn’t open a newspaper or watch the news without hearing horror stories.

  25. Mothore Avatar

    All these fuckers bold enough to say shit online! How many of you are registered with APP? Or even have gone to the extent of getting your ears pierced without a gun?

    P.S. Fuck you pending!

  26. Mothore Avatar

    All these fuckers bold enough to say shit online! How many of you are registered with APP? Or even have gone to the extent of getting your ears pierced without a gun?

    P.S. Fuck you pending!

  27. Max Brand Avatar

    “seeing my child in obvious distress, whether it be through physical pain, emotional stress or otherwise, would definitely lead me to reassess any decision that caused that distress”…..what if your baby or kid had to get a shot at the doctor….

  28. Max Brand Avatar

    “seeing my child in obvious distress, whether it be through physical pain, emotional stress or otherwise, would definitely lead me to reassess any decision that caused that distress”…..what if your baby or kid had to get a shot at the doctor….

  29. Frankie Avatar
    Frankie

    I got pierced at 6 months old.
    They did it wonky.
    I’m stuck with wonky ear piercings now.

    I would have rather my parents waited at least until I was old enough to talk…
    Or go to a decent piercer who would align them properly!

  30. Frankie Avatar
    Frankie

    I got pierced at 6 months old.
    They did it wonky.
    I’m stuck with wonky ear piercings now.

    I would have rather my parents waited at least until I was old enough to talk…
    Or go to a decent piercer who would align them properly!

  31. The Lizardman Avatar

    pending – my comment was completely serious, every word of it.

    Max – There is a clear operative difference between a necessary medical procedure and the ornamentation of your baby

  32. The Lizardman Avatar

    pending – my comment was completely serious, every word of it.

    Max – There is a clear operative difference between a necessary medical procedure and the ornamentation of your baby

  33. sugar_lippy Avatar
    sugar_lippy

    I had my ears pierced at 3 weeks old with a gun and as my ears grew the holes got lower and lower. I want to stretch but cant use the original holes so have to let them heal up and get them pierced higher, it sucks and my point is that it could end up hindering what the child wants to do with her ears in the future

  34. sugar_lippy Avatar
    sugar_lippy

    I had my ears pierced at 3 weeks old with a gun and as my ears grew the holes got lower and lower. I want to stretch but cant use the original holes so have to let them heal up and get them pierced higher, it sucks and my point is that it could end up hindering what the child wants to do with her ears in the future

  35. wigbendy Avatar
    wigbendy

    culture culture culture
    yes, culture
    we can all agree that guns are in most cases not the best option
    and we can all agree everyone is not as educated on the subject (obviously!)
    our subculture (moddies, I’m talkin’ to you) creates some education for us
    not all are so lucky

    should you pierce the ears of a baby?
    why not?
    should you circumcise your son?
    good question.

    Ear gun studs are painful and sharp, get hoops and a needle. We are not talking about removing part of the babies body, or structurally modifying it.
    If you want to get all churned up about something serious regarding baby mods, forget ear piercing. Cutting things off babies is what we should be angered and disgusted by.

    This poor woman in the photo is obviously not aware of the potential danger, she is worthy of our pity for the unenlightened, but she commits no grave injustice to her child by choosing a piercing. We know nothing of her, her cultural views or motivations.

    Her baby is clean and well dressed, as is she. It is safe to assume her is not trying to be cruel or hurt her child. So forgive her choice in location, and judge her as you would wish to be judged, with understanding and an open mind.

  36. wigbendy Avatar
    wigbendy

    culture culture culture
    yes, culture
    we can all agree that guns are in most cases not the best option
    and we can all agree everyone is not as educated on the subject (obviously!)
    our subculture (moddies, I’m talkin’ to you) creates some education for us
    not all are so lucky

    should you pierce the ears of a baby?
    why not?
    should you circumcise your son?
    good question.

    Ear gun studs are painful and sharp, get hoops and a needle. We are not talking about removing part of the babies body, or structurally modifying it.
    If you want to get all churned up about something serious regarding baby mods, forget ear piercing. Cutting things off babies is what we should be angered and disgusted by.

    This poor woman in the photo is obviously not aware of the potential danger, she is worthy of our pity for the unenlightened, but she commits no grave injustice to her child by choosing a piercing. We know nothing of her, her cultural views or motivations.

    Her baby is clean and well dressed, as is she. It is safe to assume her is not trying to be cruel or hurt her child. So forgive her choice in location, and judge her as you would wish to be judged, with understanding and an open mind.

  37. TorriCantDance Avatar
    TorriCantDance

    It’s easy to say, “I would never do this to my child. This is cruel.”

    The matter is that a majority of people that have their children pierced at such a young age are within the Hispanic culture. We all have our own beliefs, which is what makes the world beautiful(and sometimes ugly.) Just because so many of us are against this and feel it is cruel doesn’t mean it will ever stop a mother from doing what she feels is “the right thing” for her child. As a person previously stated, someone’s mother even had them pierced with a sewing needle because people refused to pierce her child. Like it or not, this is just another socially acceptable form of assigning children to their gender role – unfortunately it probably will never change and if it does it will not be within our lifetime. I personally am highly against this, but my words will change nothing.

    Instead of deciding if this is right or wrong, there should be a discussion/action on banishment of these piercing guns and leaving this to the professionals who went through years of apprenticeship rather than a 17 year old girl that only read a manual.

  38. TorriCantDance Avatar
    TorriCantDance

    It’s easy to say, “I would never do this to my child. This is cruel.”

    The matter is that a majority of people that have their children pierced at such a young age are within the Hispanic culture. We all have our own beliefs, which is what makes the world beautiful(and sometimes ugly.) Just because so many of us are against this and feel it is cruel doesn’t mean it will ever stop a mother from doing what she feels is “the right thing” for her child. As a person previously stated, someone’s mother even had them pierced with a sewing needle because people refused to pierce her child. Like it or not, this is just another socially acceptable form of assigning children to their gender role – unfortunately it probably will never change and if it does it will not be within our lifetime. I personally am highly against this, but my words will change nothing.

    Instead of deciding if this is right or wrong, there should be a discussion/action on banishment of these piercing guns and leaving this to the professionals who went through years of apprenticeship rather than a 17 year old girl that only read a manual.

  39. chrissy Avatar

    wow that looks like a classy place to pierce your kid. purses half off with a piercing! sweeeet! lol.

  40. chrissy Avatar

    wow that looks like a classy place to pierce your kid. purses half off with a piercing! sweeeet! lol.

  41. allana Avatar

    Max Brand, stop being a cunt.

  42. allana Avatar

    Max Brand, stop being a cunt.

  43. steven Avatar
    steven

    what the fuck is that shitty man and shitty girl doing to that kid..

    while they are at it they should split his tounge and tattoo his forehead…im obviously joking

  44. steven Avatar
    steven

    what the fuck is that shitty man and shitty girl doing to that kid..

    while they are at it they should split his tounge and tattoo his forehead…im obviously joking

  45. Dagon Avatar

    I don’t see what cultural traditions has to do with it being “right or wrong.”

  46. Dagon Avatar

    I don’t see what cultural traditions has to do with it being “right or wrong.”

  47. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    Here in south Texas it’s extremely common for Hispanics to pierce tiny babies ears both female and male. Except it’s not done at a studio with a needle but in a mall with a gun.
    I’m not passing judgement either way but the needle is the lesser of two evils, I guess.

  48. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    Here in south Texas it’s extremely common for Hispanics to pierce tiny babies ears both female and male. Except it’s not done at a studio with a needle but in a mall with a gun.
    I’m not passing judgement either way but the needle is the lesser of two evils, I guess.

  49. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    Parents in the US have the right to reject child immunizations. Really. But everyone gets more upset over ear piercing because a child “doesn’t know what’s happening to it”. Yeah, and not getting immunized for serious childhood disease, well, the little ones don’t understand about that either. But it’s done and it’s legal.
    Parents can also refuse blood transfusions for their child.
    Much more of a health/ethical issue than an earring don’t you think?

  50. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    Parents in the US have the right to reject child immunizations. Really. But everyone gets more upset over ear piercing because a child “doesn’t know what’s happening to it”. Yeah, and not getting immunized for serious childhood disease, well, the little ones don’t understand about that either. But it’s done and it’s legal.
    Parents can also refuse blood transfusions for their child.
    Much more of a health/ethical issue than an earring don’t you think?

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