OFF TOPIC - pierced ears

Coming into this conversation late...

I had mine pierced around 8 or 9 (3rd or 4th grade). My mom and grandmother took me (mall place). I did get pretty freaked out by the 'gun' and went into the beginning stages of shock...

My younger sister had hers pierced even earlier (6 or 7).

Interestingly, these ages seem a bit younger than what others' have suggested. Neither my sister nor I had any problems with our piercings... for what it's worth.

--Mickey

I think Marcella was twelve when she really wanted them done. We went together...... if I had my choice I would have chickened out after #1, but MOM had to be brave!!

Her daughter, Stephanie had hers done last year when she was about 12.

Gillian

From my personal experience, neither my mother, friends or myself had pierced ears in England. ( Now I was born in 1936, so I know times have drastically changed).

My dughter asked at the age of 12 to have them pierced, and we did it....together!.

My daughter-in-law had her baby's pierced at the age of 3-6 months.....I don't think this was a religious/ethnic thing, because the parents were catholic. My mother-in-law (yup old friends THAT ONE, EMIL) refused to have hers done because it might hurt!.

I guess it is all how you see it, and how responsible the child is!

Gillian

Cheryl.....surely Elise can't be that grown up! Damn, I am OLD!!

Ericka, i understood ALL this from the very first time i read it , i repeat it is STILL a very strange and curious idea to see EAR PIERCING as Such a ritual ,,,, since we started this discussion i had time to discuss it with various people here. EVERY One who heard this , thought it was a Joke ,,,, one asked if you [or the parents of the child to have ears pierced] read about the History of the tradition , maybe travel in a pirate boat ? relate it to the way Cows have nose rings , Speak about Slavery History ,,,,,, etc ,, A Transitional Rite has to be prepared , studied for etc.... Nobody here saw it a way to teach achild responsibility ,,, everybodyt said, Trend ,,,,, mirjam

i understood that Melinda , i still think it is a strange use for that act ,,,,, mirjam

That's exactly why I said it was probably an issue of semantics.

My children got wristwatches when they learned to tell time on an analog clock.

My children got new Bibles (we are Christians) on their first birthday (that I chose for them), upon finishing phonics instruction (that they got to pick), and an adult-type Bible instead of a kids' type Bible (that they also got to pick out) at age 13. (and three of them got their very own copy of J. Vernon McGee's Through the Bible commentaries on their 18th birthday, the youngest being only 15 at the present time and having that milestone in the future yet)

That's the type of thing I am talking about.

It's probably a cultural thing.

Yes i find it curious that people in a relative young culture [ American/ Western/ verytechnological and High Tech adopt a habit others before them just used a way to adorn a body or maybe not loose the Metal they gave their children , As a Transistional AGE rite ,,,, My interest in this was purely Sociological, same way as i look at the More and more people who are Baring more and more body parts in some places on the globe , while at the same time and place[s] , more and more people COver up more and more parts of their bodies . I wonder why all those `traditions` `passage rites` etc,,,,, are now so extreme , far apart ,,,, and than again there are people who walk on the middle line taking a bit from here and bit from there ,, Are these Middle people pushing the Othersto become More strict ??? mirjam

She's not sure what she is - tom boy or a tween girl. The only two constants are the "I want to get my ear pierced" and "I want to play goal".

Again, let me be clear here: ear piercing is NOT a typical coming-of-age rite in the US. There are, however, some who recommend using events *LIKE* ear piercing (or other often unremarkable privileges) as rites of passage in order to mark transitions and stages that are largely missing for children and adolescents in US culture.

Best wishes Ericka

Again, different cultures, different strategies. And frankly, while there are some negative historical connotations to ear piercing, there are also positive historical connotations and pretty much the boat has sailed regarding those perceptions anyway. The number of folks who see ear piercings on older girls or women as a negative thing in the US is vanishingly small, and it has been that way for a long time. The odds that things will turn around and people will view them in a negative light are pretty much slim and none. And why would it be so odd? Pretty much every coming of age ritual the world over has something to do with the granting of both privileges and responsibilities appropriate to a new stage in life. What's the virtue in granting a privilege without taking the opportunity to associate a responsibility?

Best wishes, Ericka

Well, a number of years ago it was a coming-of-age type of thing to give a high school graduate their own car, too, so the meaning of having a car changed also. But I bet those older cultures who used piercing just to adorn their bodies didn't let children do it before a certain age.

And for a logn time in much of European/American society it was not considered appropriate for women to wear either knee-length skirts or slacks, but now it is. Things change.

Beats me, but our family's modesty policy is to have the torso covered at least from neck to knees with clothing that has enough ease that it does not allow the casual observer to see one's exact body contours, but my daughter wanted and got her ears pierced and I had no problem with it, so the piercing thing in our case was not an issue of baring more and more body parts, because we sure don't.

Ericka i am not an idiot and i did understand you the first time It is YOU who try not to understand my words ,,, i am thinking ALOUD or in Public about Sociological events ,, mirjam

I think that is the center of the discussion - it is a semantics kind of thing. The piercing of ears is more a Milestone rather than a Rite of Passage. Others for my daughters were getting their first bra, getting to wear light lipstick, changing curfews, etc. Each of those carried the acknowledgement that the girls were old enough for further responsibility regarding their own choices.

Piercing is now so common in the US that is isn't a very big deal. This amuses me because when I got mine done - probably 1964, it had finally come into "fashion" where it was accepted that pierced ears didn't make you "bad" or indicate you were not a chaste woman!

Now the thing that confuses me is tattooing. We had one tattoo parlor here in a town of 90,000 since I can remember, and it was in a rough part of town and patronized only by scary, rough men and a few even scarier women. The parlors started multiplying like rabbits a few years ago and now even my 80 year old mother in law is considering a tattoo, discreetly on her ankle!!! At the age of 55, I've reached the point that I tolerate them but don't understand wanting a permanent mark of ANYTHING on my body.

Fad and fashion, trends and peer pressure create the market for these things. That does not include the odd people who think they should be a walking canvas or pincushion. They have other issues that don't include following a trend but in shock value. Speaking of earrings, (back on topic), I change my earrings if I change my clothes, so how would I ever settle on a tattoo that is permanent!!! Moni ---- Posted via Pronews.com - Premium Corporate Usenet News Provider ----

Like you I have lots of different colors and styles of earrings and I'm lucky and have no problem with silver, which is relatively inexpensive

I have a different concern about tattoos. They look pretty on young, smooth perfect bodies but what will they look like years from now. I always have this vision in my head of a dead, droopy looking rose or a heart that looks like it's bleeding because the body it's on is wrinkled.

We're going to miss all that ! We'll be long gone when it happens lol Look at it this way though, sure to put the next generation off tattoos.

My one reactionary addition to this part of the thread is to say that, even tho' Mirjam **speaks** English as a second language -- and quite well, I might add -- it appears that she is convinced that she completely *understands* the subtleties of semantics and the exact meaning of whatever is said by those who grew up speaking English as their primary language. I will *never* understand why the native English speaking people continue to argue with Mirjam about what they meant when something was posted. IMNSHO, it's a futile and totally hopeless endeavour! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I just saw a comic the other day, an elderly lady pointing to various blotches on her arm "And that used to be a rose...."