A Poll

[baniszew]

This is unlikely to effect my decision in the matter, but I'm kind of curious, so what the hell:

Should I get my ears pierced?

I only have a basic account, so you have to answer in comments.

Comments

[laura47.livejournal.com]

wow, just yesterday i was touching my earring as i wore them and reflecting on how weeeeeeird it is that i have permanent holes in my ears that i hang shiny things form, and pondered that i could let them heel up, though it might take years... but in the end i like hanging shiny things there, no matter how weird it is. earrings look good. matching earring and necklace sets are especially good.

pierce your ears! 5 times! get all the piercing care over with at once!

[photonsrain.livejournal.com]

I was the only girl in first grade without pierced ears... I sort of like being one of the few without intentional holes in my head. I support staying hole-free... though getting pierced ears opens up a lot of jewelry potential! My mom found these fish at a farmers market last month, though I could see you totally trumping her in awesomeness in this realm.

[char0n.livejournal.com]

It depends... Do you have a particular reason to get them pierced? (some really nice jewelry to wear/feel like your current overall outfit options are suffering due to not?) Otherwise, you not having them pierced actually makes you pretty unique (at least in my experience).

[kelkyag]

How much do you like earrings? Would you want or remember to wear them most of the time? Would you suddenly start spending unacceptable sums of money on jewelry?

I would not remember to wear them most of the time, and suspect that piercings and acne would not play well together, and thus have unpierced ears. Your milage may vary.

[baniszew.livejournal.com]

I've mostly stopped buying jewelry since my ring and necklace slots are already full of thing I like. I've recently started buying hairsticks, and it's been cool to have a new bauble slot again. Of course, poking holes in my head still feels like a weird idea.

[kelkyag]

Would being distracted by earrings dilute or enchance your enjoyment of hairsticks? Are ear cuffs or ear wires (whatever those wacky things that wrap the back of your ear are called) valid bauble slots? Brooches? Shiny things to string on your shoe laces?

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, most definitely, in the ear lobe, one hole, nowhere else and no piercings if you are a guy (although I don't imagine you are a guy).

I never met a woman that was sorry she had her ears pierced.

-v-

[(Anonymous)]

Mmm, gender stereotypes. Goes really well with my morning toast.

[(Anonymous)]

Please do not use hackneyed expressions when commenting on my posts. Thank you.

-v-

[rusalka.livejournal.com]

Are you saying that you weren't using gender stereotypes? Because if you are, I will laugh at you.

[(Anonymous)]

If you ask 100 women if they are glad they got their ears pierced with one hole centered in the ear lobe, most will all say yes.

If you ask 100 straight men the same question most will say no.

So, are you asking me to ignore statistics?

I don't think it is wrong to acknowledge the differences between men and women. It is wrong however to try and seize every opportunity to say 'gender stereotype' or 'racism' or 'sexism' without probing further.

-v-

[(Anonymous)]

Of course you must be right. Your 'statistics' made up on the spot and declared as truth with no reference have convinced me. And of course the OP must be a statistically average person without individual opinions. It's good that you and your statistics are here to serve as a guide for how to behave.

-I-

[(Anonymous)]

If a person is happy about their pierced ears, they will routinely wear earings so that the holes won't close up. Next time you are at the supermarket check-out line, count how many women are wearing earings vs. how many have pierced lobes and are not. Do the same for men.

I predict you will spot lots of men with pierced ears that are not wearing earings. On the other hand I predict you won't find a single woman that has pierced ears that is not wearing earings.

-v-

[rusalka.livejournal.com]

Your statements are directly contradicted by reality. I'm still laughing at you.

[(Anonymous)]

Really? You're laughing? That's awesome! I'm laughing at your icon - the light beams coming out of the skull. That's something you don't see that often, even in Cambridge on Halloween.

-v-

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Mine aren't pierced. At times I ponder it, but I kinda like being unusual in not having piercings. Also, I tend to wear the exact same necklace every day, and I in general feel weird about having earrings and a necklace that don't match (blame that on helping my mom choose jewelry every day for a few years)... but this discussion is quite informative!

[lokiect.livejournal.com]

I like my pierced ears, even though they got infected a lot when I first got them and they have a strong desire to close up.
so I guess that's a vote for and a warning against

[wormulus.livejournal.com]

I've never regretted having mine pierced. My parents pierced my ears when I was but a wee infant. I got the second holes (several times) in middle school. I got the third holes when I graduated high school. Plus, the way I think of it, you can always just choose not to put jewelry in a piercing. It's not like the holes are really noticeable unless you look closely. The care for piercing lobes is pretty easy. It stings a bit at first, but it's a lot faster heal than, say, a cartilage piercing.

It's kind of weird when I think about it, you know. Healed holes to hang things in. But I can't really imagine living without mine, and I've had a lot of fun over the years making/finding/buying things to put in them.

another option

[annag.livejournal.com]

You can just get clip-ons or screw-ons (which don't pinch as much),
though i must admit they're more of a challenge to find.
Vintage stores are a good start, and also you can buy clips
to convert existing earrings to clip-ons.

Re: another option

[rusalka.livejournal.com]

I always found clip-ons painful. I tried wearing them before I got my piercings, but could never stand them.

There also exist magnetic earrings, though. Those are just awesome.

[jessiehl.livejournal.com]

Mine aren't pierced, and I never had any desire to get them pierced. I don't like the idea of poking holes in my ears to hang things from to get caught in my hair, even if the things are pretty.

However, if you like the idea of being able to wear certain earrings, or earrings in general, enough that it overrides the likely inconvenience, then you should get them pierced. That is pretty much what it comes down to.

I second the suggestion that if you don't want to poke holes in your ears, but you want to dangle shiny things from them, you could try clip-ons, or those wacky ear cuff things that go around the cartilage.

[eredien]

I would recommend ear cuffs over clipons, which--if worn reguarly over time--can become a piercing, or so I hear.

I like having pierced ears; I recently got a second hole and haven't regretted it very much, except for the first few days when they were still sore.

[rusalka.livejournal.com]

I say yes, but you already know my opinion on the matter :)

I got my first piercings when I was 13, and was absurdly happy about them at the time. I only started wearing earrings every day after I got my second pair of holes, though. I had to keep wearing studs in the new piercings for 6 months, and felt they looked silly alone. Somehow the habit stuck.

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

As an alternative to clips - which I find very painful - R's dad suggested a nice trick to hang shiny danglies while still not having pierced ears. Let me know if you'd like more details...

[baniszew.livejournal.com]

That sounds interesting. I'd like to hear more about it.

I do find clips get uncomfortable. (Although I've never tried magnets.) Still, part of the appeal of getting piercings would be being able to look at the many racks of shiny things in stores meant for pierced ears. I was vaguely pondering earlier today how hard it would be to make a magnetic adapter for conventional earrings.

[lakmiseiru.livejournal.com]

Awesome. I'll poke you on zephyr at some point, then (or you can poke me).

[a-wry.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna say: maybe no.*

I got my ears pierced when I was 14, and have since found that wearing earrings-- even really tiny posts-- weighs my ears down in some hard-to-quantify but very distracting way. (Seriously, I _can not_ think in earrings.)

Also: when you wear non-earbud headphones, they press on your ears and cause the back of the earrings' posts to prick the sides of your head/neck. This kind of sucks!

However, if you wear earrings consistently enough during the first few years, you may be able to keep the holes permanently open. This has proved to be the case for me. So, even though I never wear earrings in day-to-day life, I still have the option to put them in for a few hours for a job interview or a wedding or whatever.

*Thus giving a gigantic finger to the mysterious -v-'s spurious statistics.

[(Anonymous)]

The key words of my posts in this thread are 'most' and 'I predict'. When these words are used it means that the writer is implying that there will be exceptions. You, apparently are the exception - you are female and you have a problem wearing earings in your pieced ears. You are also not afraid to admit this and fly in the face of convention. Perhaps the finger is really meant for 'The Man'. I am not 'The Man'.

I have bigger things to ponder now. I just returned from a week in San Francisco and I witnessed some very disturbing new trends. Both have to do with cycling.

New Trend No. 1 - Riding your bike with your right pant leg of your jeans rolled up to the top of your calf. This is gay and needs to stop now. And don't tell me it is so their pants don't get caught in the chain because that is BS.

New Trend No. 2 - Heaping.
On Tuesday evening Mrs. -v- and I went to one of our fav. restaurants in SF called Delphina. When we were leaving we noticed police lights and a tow truck in front of the restaurant. There was a pile of 25 to 30 bicycles all locked together and locked to a single parking meter post. The pile was 8 feet high and at least 12 feet in diameter. It blocked the sidewalk. This is a nightmare for anyone trying to use the sidewalk. I hope the Police used teargas and stunguns to teach these hoodlums a lesson.

-v-

[baniszew.livejournal.com]

It is important to roll up your pant leg or tie it up in some way to keep it from getting caught in the chain. I commuted to work by bike for more than two years, and I ruined two pairs of pants by getting the leg caught in the chain before I started tying up a pant leg. It is a very practical thing to do.

Furthermore, please do not use "gay" as a derogatory term or criticize people for acting "gay" in my journal. If you continue to do so I will remove your posts and/or block anonymous commenting.