It is more and more of a trend these days to get girls' ears pierced when they are babies. They say it's easier on them. I don't know about that, but I disagree with doing it that way.
You see, when I was growing up, getting your ears pierced was something special for girls to look forward to. I can remember how excited my classmates were when their mothers decided they were old enough to get their ears pierced. It was a sign that they were growing up. A rite of passage. It was a source of pride.
Piercing a baby's ears robs her of all of that. The anticipation. The pride. The symbol that you are becoming a young woman.
I always said that if I had a little girl, I wouldn't get her ears pierced until she began asking for it. Then it would be for a special occasion--like her birthday. I would not rob her of that experience.
Now, me--I was always a tomboy. I never cared about getting my ears pierced. I was 19 before I did. My mother talked me into it. See, she wanted her ears pierced, but had convinced herself that my dad was opposed to piercings. She told me once that he thought that if God had wanted holes in our ears, He would have put them there himself.
When I was 19, she talked me into going to get my ears pierced. She even offered to pay for it. Well, she would re-pay me, but only after we had seen how my dad reacted. That was the whole reason she wanted me to get my ears pierced: to see how my dad would react. If he exploded, then she could say she didn't have anything to do with it. And of course, I would bear the brunt of my dad's anger. I was to be the sacrificial lamb, so to speak.
The appointed day arrived, and I got my ears pierced right on schedule. I wasn't afraid of Dad. I knew he wouldn't care. In fact, he didn't even notice until the next day. That evening--the next day--we were sitting on the couch watching TV, and my dad turned to me and said, "You have a bug on your ear."
"That's an earring," I replied.
"Oh, you got your ears pierced," Dad said. Calmly. Approvingly. And that was the last he ever said about it. He was not opposed to it. He never had been. My mother's persecution complex had dreamed the whole thing up.
The very next week, she went and got her ears pierced. She and my sister.
After they'd seen that my dad would let me live.
7 comments:
Nice story -- you're such a great story teller, I'm constantly jealous! That just brings up so many fun ear piercing stories, my own and my friends'. Thanks for making me smile this morning!
She told me once that he thought that if God had wanted holes in our ears, He would have put them there himself.
Nice story Beck,
My dad use to say the same thing, lol!
I have two piercings in each ear,I did it rather sneakily on account of my parents not approving, not a good choice!
My daughters all waited for theirs along with the makeup thing till around 13 or 14 except my last one she was 9 when we pierced hers, no makeup yet, she doesn't need it:)
I did not get my ears pierced until I was 16.
My father and I have an agreement about it. If I did not get them pierced at 13 and waited until I was 16 I would get a video camera for my 13th b-day. So I waited.
I got mine done when I was five. My sister was nine and she had been begging my parents for months to let her get her ears pierced. My mom saw in the paper where a local department store was doing piercings that weekend so she said that she would take her to do it.
I guess she started getting nervous and she talked me into doing it with her. My mom agreed, I'm sure she thought I would never go through with it. When we got there I climbed up in the chair and got my ears pierced and my sister chickened out. Who does that?
My ears aren't pierced, and they're gonna remain that way, too. ;-)
Great story, Becky.
Sus, thank you. I really appreciate the compliment!
Dawn, my dad never actually said that. My mother had just convinced herself that he felt that way. I didn't start wearing makeup until I was 17. I didn't need it either.
Ashley, great job! I think I would have made that deal, too!
Amy, now THAT is a great story!
Buck, that's a good thing! Earrings on a man is a massive turn off to me. It just doesn't seem right.
Sounds a lot like my family, except my mother wasn't opposed to it, but she did feel that you needed to be responsible for taking care of your own ears as they healed up, etc. Which is fair, and why she wouldn't let us get it done until we were at least tweens or early teens.
I agree that it's a "rite of passage" for a girl (or heck, these days, a guy too in some circles). I think it's also a cultural thing with doing it to babies. Having Hispanic in-laws, they all do it to the girls when they are still babies, but I agree, that's silly. I think kids are more accident prone when they are that small, and if they ripped their ear because they were careless...you get the idea. Put it on someone old enough to handle the responsibility. It was a big deal for me when I was 13 and finally allowed to get them pierced. My youngest sister even got them double pierced, and one ear triple pierced (it was the nineties, after all). I sometimes think I should've gotten mine double pierced, but oh well. While it's not too late, what's the point now? (I didn't get to do the teenage rebellion/express yourself thing in any form when I was a teenager. I listened to my mother too much, and so I'm rebelling 20 years later, but now I'm too old.)
:-P
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