As I was stepping on to the bus a few days ago after work, Starbucks grande almond latte in hand and my DiscMan blaring at my eardrums, I was stopped by a little girl (around twelve years old) who wished to compliment me on my septum ring. To my disbelief, the girl was extensively pierced- both nostrils, eyebrow, and even a little lip ring. I thanked her, and she eventually sat across from me on the bus asking me about my various body modifications. I asked her how old she was, not trying to pry too much, and she replied quite proudly: "thirteen in two weeks". She also showed me her navel ring, and that she had just had one of her nipples pierced. Remembering my days as a twelve-year-old, where girls wore training bras, I found it difficult to believe that such a little girl would have been pierced there, but the small ring could be seen through her tee shirt.
At A Glance Author DarkTigerLily Contact [email protected] Her father, she explained, was a body piercer in a local studio I was familiar with. The same studio my friends had gone to when they were fourteen to get ugly 'tribal' tattoos, the same studio which had recently had a hepatitis scare, the same studio which still pierced minors. When I say minors, I'm not talking sixteen and seventeen; I'm talking eleven or twelve. The girl got off at a stop before me, and I've never seen her since. However, that one encounter with her made me realize how the world has shifted since I was twelve years old, and how body modification is becoming so much more accepted in today's society, although, when it comes to minors, I am not sure whether or not this is a good thing.
My first piercing was when I was six. My mom took me to the mall, along with my little sister, and the scary mall lady with a bad eighties perm took a gun and stuck two 'amethyst' (purple plastic) gemstone earrings into my tiny little ears. Fortunately for me, the placement was quite good (unlike some gun placements which are nearly at the bottom of the lobe- I see these quite a lot), although I screamed like a banshee, and I'm sure the whole mall could hear me. I never wore jewelry as a kid, though, so I don't understand how the holes stayed throughout my entire adolescence, but they did. I was somewhat of a tomboy while I was young, and never wore jewelry until I was about fourteen.
At fourteen, my interest in body piercing began. Things then were still at a stage where body piercing was quite taboo, and few people wore anything other than a pair of earrings and maybe a nose stud. I got my second holes done, and mom let me, surprisingly. At fifteen I got my third holes done, without asking mom and dad, which they didn't like too much. All of these were done with guns. My next piercing, I'd decided, was going to be my navel. My parents were strictly against this, and I knew I'd have to pay for it myself and get it done secretly. At fifteen I was quite tall- around 5'6", and I looked quite a bit older than fifteen. I had a fake ID card, and my friend Gemma and I decided to go into town and get my navel pierced. I was frightened beyond belief. I'd heard stories about things going septic and falling off (all myths, of course) and how much it hurt from my friends' older siblings. I went into the studio, braced myself, and got it done. It didn't hurt, and I was so excited about it. Mom and Dad thought it was gross, but I loved it. The placement was great, and it healed well (I followed the aftercare religiously). I didn't see why minors shouldn't get pierced at all- what a stupid rule, right? I knew what I was doing! I was mature! Unfortunately, my body wasn't.
At fifteen I still had the typical boyish, thin, adolescent figure. I had a tiny waist, small breasts, fast metabolism, and wasn't yet full grown. After two years I was a few inches taller, a few inches thicker, and had breasts, my metabolism had slowed somewhat, and I was actually gaining weight. My navel bar had migrated to quite a small size, and did not look anything like what it had looked before. I had a big hole in my flesh where the bar had moved, meaning: when I took it out, it looked quite horrible. By the time I was eighteen, I hated the bar, and decided to do multiple navel piercings around it to take away from the first, uglier one. By eighteen I was fully grown, getting more piercings, generally ear cartilage and facial piercings, which I still love now. I got my nipples pierced (because I actually had breasts!) and some oral piercings.
Looking back at my navel piercing I realized how stupid I was. I was lucky enough to go to a studio with an autoclave, which was clean. The little girls of today don't. They go to the dankest, crappiest, cheapest studio in hopes to get pierced. By the time I was eighteen I was working in a piercing studio, and I had learned all the things that I should've known before I got pierced. I didn't research, I didn't know much, I was lucky: all I have is a big scar on my navel to show for it. I didn't get any infections, or get eyed up by some perverted hack of a piercer: "just take your shirt off, it'll be easier to pierce your navel that way". To all those little girls (and even boys) who want their navels, their tongues, their eyebrows, their nipples, their anything pierced, hold on to your childhood. I was so eager to be rid of my childhood I didn't realize its value- getting your bills paid, your dinner on the table, your clothes bought, your needs met. Your innocence, your youth, is so precious. You have the rest of your life to be an adult and pay taxes, work, and do everything yourself, and when you do that, then you should get a piercing or tattoo. When your body and your mind are ready. I agree, there is no magic number, but ordinarily under eighteen, one, or usually both of those is not.
If you're young and want to be different, why not learn how to make your own clothing, learn to play an instrument, get your hair braided or get colored extensions? Do something that isn't permanent, isn't potentially dangerous, or won't leave a lasting scar. Every year children start getting older, younger. Your youth is precious, hold on to it for as long as you can.