The Power of Piercing

Piercings have grown so immensely just over the past few years. The possibilities of places on the body to pierce are becoming endless. Even looking up pictures to use on this post, I came across images of piercings I never knew existed or were possible (i.e. uvula in the back of the throat.)

Just like many types of body modification, piercings are a form of expression and are sometimes used to enhance a feature. Often times people get them to portray a certain image as well. Piercings can easily be seen as a symbol of creativity and edginess. Of course there are many other reasons why piercing appeals to popular culture; Sometimes it's as simple as liking the way it looks. If an individual admires the look on others, he or she is more likely to get pierced. Or if someone is hanging around people who all have piercings, there may be expectations to conform. In more extreme cases where people have multiple piercings, it can be taken as a sign of strength, tolerance to pain, and even sexually attractive. The shock factor and rush one receives are also factors that must be taken into consideration. Overall, it seems to be more commonplace nowadays to see people with piercings than without any at all.

The important question is...where did this practice come from and what is it doing? Body modification has been seen in countless cultures all over the world for centuries. Each of these groups has different reasoning and beliefs behind it, whether it be religiously related or used to mark entrance into adulthood. In comparison, piercings in the U.S. are rarely used in this same way. Rather, people like to know they have complete control over their bodies and choose to decorate it accordingly for personal satisfaction and/or positive recognition or attention from peers. With docile bodies being at the mercy of modification in various forms throughout everyday life, it's easy to be swayed into thinking that piercing is just another common practice of beautifying the body. Just like applying makeup and getting our hair done, we rarely think about these practices. Similarly, as an example, piercing is becoming so "normal" that mothers don't think twice about getting their small baby's ears poked with a needle gun. As a society, we just know that this is being done and so we do it.