Best age for boys' ear piercing?

[Blacksheep558]

Tay would make an excellent fiction writer.

Facts are never quite so exciting

[lisafromamsterdam]

I live in Amsterdam and last saturday I took my daughter (6) to get her ears pierced and my son (9) to get his left ear pierced. some boys in his school are wearing an earring and I like boys wearing earring, he wanted it too.

When we arrived at the mall, a boy about 17 was getting both his ears pierced, I thought it looked super on him and asked my son if he wanted both his ears to be pierced! He said yes! He choosed little diamond studs and five minutes later was wearing one diamond in each lobe!
He was very happy and proud, everybody is very surprised looking him wearing 2 earrings as if he was a little girl! He has a lot of bad comments (oh my god you have both ears pierced!...; You are a little girl...; you are girly) from his schoolfriends, his teacher, and even his grandparents! but still wants to wear them. My husband doesn't like it but doesn't ask him to remove the studs.

DO YOU THINK I WAS WRONG TO DO THIS?

[T_ammy_04]

Lisa,

If your son wanted both ears pierced then I think you were right to have them both done. After his ears have healed he will always have the choice to wear earrings in one or both ears. I gave my son the gift of pierced ears on his fourth birthday. We never considered having only one ear pierced. Like you and your son, my husband's parents were very critical of their grandson wearing earrings. My husband was also very cool to the idea, mostly because he knew how his parents would react. My son is now 10 years old and has worn earrings continuously, day and night, ever since his ears were pierced. My in-laws have accepted the idea that their grandson enjoys wearing earrings and have stopped making any negative comments, but my son has also learned to wear small, conservative earrings when he is going to be around his grandparents. My son wore earrings for more than a year before he started school. When he strated kindergarten the other children just accepted him as another child who wore earrings with no particular reactions either way. In a week or two the teachers and the other children get used to your son wearing earrings and will not have any more comments about them than they would a girl who had just gotten her ears pierced.

As soon as my son's original piercing studs were first removed I had a jewler file the sharp points off of them so he could wear them like regular earrings. Then I made certain he wore his piercing studs once each week for at least 24 consecutive hours so his holes would remain at their original size and not start to close up. Normally we would put his piercing studs in his ears one night at bedtime. He would wear them that night, the next day and the following night. Then we would remove them the second morning. By doing this regularly we have also kept his holes perfectly round.

You said your son is happy and pround both of his ears are pierced. To me that is the only thing that really matters.

Tammy

[Guest]

I live in Amsterdam and last saturday I took my daughter (6) to get her ears pierced and my son (9) to get his left ear pierced. some boys in his school are wearing an earring and I like boys wearing earring, he wanted it too.

When we arrived at the mall, a boy about 17 was getting both his ears pierced, I thought it looked super on him and asked my son if he wanted both his ears to be pierced! He said yes! He choosed little diamond studs and five minutes later was wearing one diamond in each lobe!
He was very happy and proud, everybody is very surprised looking him wearing 2 earrings as if he was a little girl! He has a lot of bad comments (oh my god you have both ears pierced!...; You are a little girl...; you are girly) from his schoolfriends, his teacher, and even his grandparents! but still wants to wear them. My husband doesn't like it but doesn't ask him to remove the studs.

DO YOU THINK I WAS WRONG TO DO THIS?

Lisa:

In the road where I live there are boys about your son's age who play football in the road (it's a quiet road) and they all happen to wear rings in both ears.

Your son won't be unusual in that respect.

(In the Old Testament, both men and women with pierced ears symbolized the willing devotion of fomer bondservants offering willing and joyful service, for your infomation. It's a modern custom for men to do it, especially the younger men and boys, but it's also very old practice.)

[Guest]

I live in Amsterdam and last saturday I took my daughter (6) to get her ears pierced and my son (9) to get his left ear pierced. some boys in his school are wearing an earring and I like boys wearing earring, he wanted it too.

When we arrived at the mall, a boy about 17 was getting both his ears pierced, I thought it looked super on him and asked my son if he wanted both his ears to be pierced! He said yes! He choosed little diamond studs and five minutes later was wearing one diamond in each lobe!
He was very happy and proud, everybody is very surprised looking him wearing 2 earrings as if he was a little girl! He has a lot of bad comments (oh my god you have both ears pierced!...; You are a little girl...; you are girly) from his schoolfriends, his teacher, and even his grandparents! but still wants to wear them. My husband doesn't like it but doesn't ask him to remove the studs.

DO YOU THINK I WAS WRONG TO DO THIS?

Nine year old children, both girls and boys, can be very cruel and hurting with their comments, particularly if the child they are criticizing has something they want. In your son's case, my first guess is that the children who are criticizing him are envious that he has both his ears pierced. If a teacher in a public school in the USA were to criticize a boy by saying he looked like a girl or was girly the teacher would most likely be charged with sexual harrassment and removed from the classroom. In a very recent case in Pennsylvania an entire school board had to issue a formal written apology to a boy of Scottish ancestry who had been told to leave a school dance because he showed up in formal Scottish attire including a kilt.

Jason

[Pam]

I think it is fine to pierce a boys ear when he is a baby as long as it is one ear, the left ear only. I have two daughters and they both had their ears pierced when they were babies. My younger sister had a son last year and decided to have his left ear pierced at six months - the same age I had my girls done. It really does look sweet and it is surprising how many other little boys you see around with a little gold stud in one ear. I don't think boys should have both done as people will think they are girls.

[IanKR]

I think it is fine to pierce a boys ear when he is a baby as long as it is one ear, the left ear only. I have two daughters and they both had their ears pierced when they were babies. My younger sister had a son last year and decided to have his left ear pierced at six months - the same age I had my girls done. It really does look sweet and it is surprising how many other little boys you see around with a little gold stud in one ear. I don't think boys should have both done as people will think they are girls.

Hi Pam
Why only one ear? These days, men and boys are having both ears pierced - I don't think people will mistake your son for a girl. But even then, what if they do? That's their problem!

[Guest]

I don't think boys should have both done as people will think they are girls.

What about boys/men who wear pink shirts now days? Do people think they are girls/women just because they are wearing a pink shirt?!

What about a boy/man who has long hair?

What about a boy/man wearing other jewelry like rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc., will this confuse people and make them think they are a girl/woman?

[Astral]

I would let my son get his ears pierced at say four or five if he asks for it to be done, although there is a true fact that many may mistake him for a "girl", but he wouldn't wear hoops or nothing, just small studs.

[Guest]

I don't think boys should have both done as people will think they are girls.

What about boys/men who wear pink shirts now days? Do people think they are girls/women just because they are wearing a pink shirt?!

What about a boy/man who has long hair?

What about a boy/man wearing other jewelry like rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc., will this confuse people and make them think they are a girl/woman?

Pam is entitled to her opinion, but I have to agree with . and IanKR here. I do think that more baby boys should be getting there ears pierced at say 6 months or something!! And Yes, boys do wear pink shirts and not mistaken for a woman either, although theres alot of speculation whether or not they are gay, but that's just other peoples problem. I do like to see men in Pink shirts and with both ears pierced with a diamond stud in each. (Only once each side mind you! )!

[Guest]

I am a 24 year old male.
My mother had both my ears pierced when I was a baby so I have never known what it is like not to wear earrings.
I have always worn gold rings 24/7 and I have never had any problems.
20 years ago it was unusual for boys to have even one ear pierced indeed at school quite a few girls didn't have earrings either but I was always known as 'the boy with the earrings' and people accepted them.
The only thing that has changed is that as I have got older I have worn larger and thicker rings.

[Guest]

These days its quite usual to see boys with both ears pierced at a very early age so I see no problem in letting them have them done if they ask.
My wife's sister had her three sons pierced before they were old enough to ask (when they were under a year old) so my son was asking why he didn't have earrings almost as soon as he could talk and had his ears done on his second birthday. At the same time I had my 6 month old twin girls pierced as well.
My wife's parents made her wait until she was 18 and even then didn't really approve. Now they have six grandchildren all with pierced ears and don't seem to mind!

[Guest]

I am a 24 year old male.
My mother had both my ears pierced when I was a baby so I have never known what it is like not to wear earrings.
I have always worn gold rings 24/7 and I have never had any problems.
20 years ago it was unusual for boys to have even one ear pierced indeed at school quite a few girls didn't have earrings either but I was always known as 'the boy with the earrings' and people accepted them.
The only thing that has changed is that as I have got older I have worn larger and thicker rings.

Did your mother every say why she had your ears pierced as a baby since it was unusual back then?

[Kenyari]

For heaven's sake boys should not pierce their ears!!!! Ear piercing should be left to the girls!!!!

[Guest]

For heaven's sake boys should not pierce their ears!!!! Ear piercing should be left to the girls!!!!

That is a matter of opinion.

Men have been piercing their ears for years. Check your history, you will find that there were men throughout history who had pierced ears.