Graffiti, Tattooes, and Piercings

I went through my 'addiction' phase over the past few years. I had my nose done twice on each side, septum, vertical labret, lip in three different places, both eyebrows, both nipples, ears at 00g, bellybutton, anti-eyebrow, etc... (not all at the same time!!!)

Now I'm focusing on making my face a balanced piece of art with my favorite piercings: I've got two in my right nostril, and will be getting my vertical labret redone in the center. I also have several tattoo plans, coming into effect starting next July. Also, I'm an ear-lobe stretcher... mine are currently at 16mm, and I plan to take them up to an inch.

I think piercings and many tatoos are beautiful. I would love to get more interesting piercings, but I can't because of my karate. Each session I have to take out and off all jewelery, so, more than the three I have would be a nightmare! Either that or suck it up when you get whacked with a roundhouse to your fresh piercing, and it rips out the jewelery... No thank you. Maybe when I retire after a black belt ;)

Piercings are addicting. I would have had a lot more then just two eyebrow piercings if the VP didn't tell me to stop.

i've only got my lobes pierced. And i dont wear earrings all the time...

Look - I know I'm Old and Grey and therefore Not Keeping Up, but will someone please, please explain to me the attraction of piercings. I cannot for the life of me understand the attraction of bits of metal stuck in any part of one's anatomy, the very thought of some revolts me.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have pierced ears - my husband was a goldsmith, he offered to make me a pair of ear rings for every day of the year if I would have my ears pierced (he didn't like the limitations to design of clips) but even that did not tempt me. Yes, I wear other jewellery and I wear make-up, but that's temporary adornment, it can be removed. It seems something akin to abuse to have permanent holes punched in one's anatomy - please explain, someone.

No trouble with piercings for me, but I do have a love a tattoos. I'm plotting my back piece, but I think I'll be finished after that. I think the biggest reason I'm not more 'addicted' to them is the simple fact that I want a career in Corporate America. I don't necessarily wish to work for a big company, the small one I'm at is fine, but I do want to go far and be successful. Unfortunately, that is much harder if you have too many visible piercings and tattoos. So I'll content myself with covering my entire back in artwork, and that will be the end of it. I think it is a shame they are such a stigma, since I love mine, and I want more, but that is reality and I must live in it.

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Originally Posted by kasie

Look - I know I'm Old and Grey and therefore Not Keeping Up, but will someone please, please explain to me the attraction of piercings. I cannot for the life of me understand the attraction of bits of metal stuck in any part of one's anatomy, the very thought of some revolts me.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have pierced ears - my husband was a goldsmith, he offered to make me a pair of ear rings for every day of the year if I would have my ears pierced (he didn't like the limitations to design of clips) but even that did not tempt me. Yes, I wear other jewellery and I wear make-up, but that's temporary adornment, it can be removed. It seems something akin to abuse to have permanent holes punched in one's anatomy - please explain, someone.

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The holes aren't really permanent. If you take the rings out, eventually the hole closes over. Even when the hole is present, you can take out the jewelry an if it's a small piercing, like your ear lobe, you really don't even notice the hole. It's just like jewelry. It can be temporary adornment as well, if that's what you want.

Beyond that, some people look at it as a kind of art. Some piercings are actually very flattering to a person's body. They put emphasis on certain physical features that people like about themselves. It's a way of having some control over one's physical nature, of which people don't really have a lot.

I'm not addicted to piercings, but I like the ones I have. In fact, mine all have sentimental value. They were gifts. I have one in each ear lobe and my belly button done. I won't have any more done because they would not look appropriate in my job and the ones I have start to close up really quickly if I take the rings out. The only other one I would consider getting would be my nose.

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Originally Posted by kasie

Look - I know I'm Old and Grey and therefore Not Keeping Up, but will someone please, please explain to me the attraction of piercings. I cannot for the life of me understand the attraction of bits of metal stuck in any part of one's anatomy, the very thought of some revolts me.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have pierced ears - my husband was a goldsmith, he offered to make me a pair of ear rings for every day of the year if I would have my ears pierced (he didn't like the limitations to design of clips) but even that did not tempt me. Yes, I wear other jewellery and I wear make-up, but that's temporary adornment, it can be removed. It seems something akin to abuse to have permanent holes punched in one's anatomy - please explain, someone.

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It ranges from an aesthetic thing to a spiritual thing (suspension being a further example of that). For some people, piercings are very spiritual, or a sign of success, personal reward, etc. E.g. I got my nipples pierced when I was finally comfortable enough with my own body to actually like my breasts. It was a huge step for me to be able to show them to a stranger. ;)

My piercings have slowly disappeared over the years; I used to have several in a whole plethora of amusing places, but only have 4 left - a 12g barbel in the left conch, a 14g orbital hoop through the right ear cartilage, and an 18g left nostril nose piercing. I take pride in remembering that out of the something-teen piercings I had, I never got one infection; plus I always remained "symmetrical," as I claim - I always had a balance of holes on both sides of my body. :lol: Some would claim that I finally "grew up," and started removing the metal from my body, but it more seems that some lost their meanings, did not seem a part of me anymore, got in the way, or I lacked time and money to fund getting a piercing and caring for it; I even recall that heartbreaking feeling when removing the small hoop out of my right tragus, because it kept getting in the way of my stethoscope; another I had to remove for imaging studies (CT scans and x-rays) of my chest, abdomen, and pelvis, and it healed over within a day, so I could not fit the jewelry back in its place. Just like those, these last 4 will likely fall out with time, the conch, as my favorite, likely ending up last - a very simple, yet elegant piercing.
As to addictions - yes, piercings get very addictive! I have no tattoos, and likely will not, so I cannot speak of that type of body modification. In a previous human anatomy and physiology class, years ago, my course partner and I, feeling desperate for a project subject, as a deadline approached, wrote a moderately-sized essay upon the topics of the "addictions" of body art from both a neurological and endocrine perspective - yes, highly addictive.

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Originally Posted by kasie

Look - I know I'm Old and Grey and therefore Not Keeping Up, but will someone please, please explain to me the attraction of piercings. I cannot for the life of me understand the attraction of bits of metal stuck in any part of one's anatomy, the very thought of some revolts me.

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have pierced ears - my husband was a goldsmith, he offered to make me a pair of ear rings for every day of the year if I would have my ears pierced (he didn't like the limitations to design of clips) but even that did not tempt me. Yes, I wear other jewellery and I wear make-up, but that's temporary adornment, it can be removed. It seems something akin to abuse to have permanent holes punched in one's anatomy - please explain, someone.

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No worries, kasie - some get curious about these things, and an individual passing by another on the street with tattoos and piercings head-to-toe, making one wonder what they look like under all that ink and metal, seems bound to create some questions and cause some odd looks.
I think it safe to say that piercings fit under a firm category of body modifications, and, at that, not quite as permanent as tattoos or cosmetic surgeries, for example. The term "body modifications," I think, can stretch farther than meets the eye, regardless of one's age, background, gender, etc., as all that the term states relates to a modification of one's appearance. Personally, I like women who require little to no make-up in order to look, at least, semi-decent; the appearance of a woman wearing layers of make-up, quite honestly, I find very unnattractive, in the same way that people who do not like piercings or tattoos may look upon someone inked and pierced. Why do some individuals wear make-up? They think such a topical modification enhances their appearance and increases their attractiveness; it may seem easier to remove eyeliner, but it modifies one's appearance, just like a piercing, nonetheless.
Upon giving that comparative analogy, a lot of people then ask "why put yourself through so much pain to have a piece of metal placed through you?" Honestly, I have never encountered the apparently great discomfort of women's clothing when a woman attempts to look nice - everything from high-heels and bras to corsets and frustrating battles with long hair. Why put yourself through so much discomfort, end up with bunions due to such shoes, acute hypoventilation from tight bras and corsets, and higher incidences of alopecia from alleged hair enhancing products? Because the individual thinks it enhances one's appearance, and such sacrifices of physical discomfort carry worth after what they may offer - compliments, attracting someone, fitting in, etc. I have encountered some serious discomfort with getting some piercings, but, personally, if my parents had bore a female rather than a male, I doubt I could put myself through the successive tortures an average adult woman puts herself through in contemporary times. Why put yourself through the pain of piercings? Why bear the discomfort of wearing a thong?

Thank you, people - I begin to understand the thinking behind it. It's just not for me, I think. (Neither are high heels, tight underwear - or thongs, mono!! What you see is what you get.)

A five year old cured me of wearing green eye-shadow: Miss, why are your eyes that funny colour? she asked. Because I have green eyes and the eye shadow makes them more beautiful, I replied. Hmmm, she said, and the look on her face quite clearly said, I think you're fooling yourself and only yourself, Miss. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.....

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Originally Posted by kasie

Thank you, people - I begin to understand the thinking behind it. It's just not for me, I think. (Neither are high heels, tight underwear - or thongs, mono!! What you see is what you get.)

A five year old cured me of wearing green eye-shadow: Miss, why are your eyes that funny colour? she asked. Because I have green eyes and the eye shadow makes them more beautiful, I replied. Hmmm, she said, and the look on her face quite clearly said, I think you're fooling yourself and only yourself, Miss. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.....

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:lol: I'm with you Kasie. I just don't get it either. It doesn't even look attractive to me. But to each his own. It must be a generational thing.

I have three piercings in the bottom of each ear, and would like to add one higher up on both, but I have too much of a babyface to pull off anything edgy.

Hey, I only get to hang ornaments on the Christmas tree once a year. Something's got to hold me over. :D

I don’t get it either, maybe it’s my age, but I prefer the beauty of simplicity over the aggrandizement of excess. To each his own, so I guess that makes me a minimalist. I am so repulsed by pierced lips and eyebrows that I won’t even go through a check out line with a cashier who has them.

Tattoos don’t bother me, but I do wonder why. I had one once on my hand and it so embarrassed me as I got older that I had it removed. Body adornments have fickle life spans in fashion, tattoos go through generational fads and what do you do 20 years from now when they are looked down on as you attend your child’s graduation or seek that job promotion with a spider or dragoon up your neck? Something to think about and I think in ten years, plastic surgeons are going to love all the work they are going to have when they fix all of those stretched out ear lobes.

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Originally Posted by grotto

I don’t get it either, maybe it’s my age, but I prefer the beauty of simplicity over the aggrandizement of excess. To each his own, so I guess that makes me a minimalist. I am so repulsed by pierced lips and eyebrows that I won’t even go through a check out line with a cashier who has them.

Tattoos don’t bother me, but I do wonder why. I had one once on my hand and it so embarrassed me as I got older that I had it removed. Body adornments have fickle life spans in fashion, tattoos go through generational fads and what do you do 20 years from now when they are looked down on as you attend your child’s graduation or seek that job promotion with a spider or dragoon up your neck? Something to think about and I think in ten years, plastic surgeons are going to love all the work they are going to have when they fix all of those stretched out ear lobes.

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:rolleyes: It's the people that don't think about whether or not they really want to commit to stretching their ears, or whether or not they really like a specific tattoo before getting it that give everybody else in the body mod community a bad rep. I LOVE my stretched ears, I've had them for three years now, and am slowly taking them larger as I still like them. I've got some stupid tattoos on the backs of my knuckles that are slowly bleeding out and almost gone, and I don't regret them. They mark an era in my life, which well not so long ago, was very important in shaping me into who I am now, and also a very, very different time. Little reminders.

I've also had my lip and eyebrow pierced and would be extremely offended if you didn't accept my service. I'm just as good as everybody else at my job, whatever that may be. Piercings don't change anything >>about<< a person, their abilities, values, etc. I worked at Subway when I had all my piercings (and a giant, neon pink mohawk to boot), and even though I worked with a bunch of low life idiots, I occasionally had people ask if there was anybody else who could serve them :S.

Check out BMezine for some information about piercings, tattoos, and why people get them and stick with them.

(Early morning. That was really incoherent and less than eloquent.)

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Originally Posted by kasie

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.....

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Ouch! Yes indeed.

As for piercings: I have had my hide both pierced and slashed many times... ...by accident. That is quite enough as far as I am concerned. ;)


/Claes