My interest in tattooing has been a long held fascination. I have always wanted tattoos, and when I turned 18, I fulfilled that desire. However, I never had the same interest in getting pierced. But about six years ago, when piercing and tattooing became more visible, that all changed.
At A Glance Author Amanda Contact [email protected] IAM Dream Weaver When Five years ago Artist Dean Studio TigerLily Location Baton Rouge, LA I live in a big city with a small town city attitude. Although I was a senior in college, 23, and fairly liberal, I never really saw a lot of facial piercings. But then I discovered the eyebrow piercing. At this time, it was mostly on males, but I loved the look of it. To me, it looked very sexy, yet almost feminine. Floating around in the back of my mind was the desire to pierce my eyebrow.
One summer, at my student worker job, a couple of friends and I decided to get pierced. Looking back, it seems very spur of the moment, but again, I had been admiring this particular piercing for a while. We all walked down to the TigerLily, the local piercing studio. James and I were getting our eyebrows done, and Natalie and Kelly, belly buttons.
I sat down in the chair, was marked, clamped and in went the needle! I remember being surprised that it didn't really hurt, but a little freaked out by the blood dripping down my eye. I was given the aftercare instructions and sent on my way.
I loved my eyebrow piercing. I loved the way it looked, I loved the way it felt, I loved everything about it. But I knew there would be problems. Not with the piercing itself, but with the reaction. Little did I know how many problems there would be.
I had to work that night at my restaurant job. I was so tickled with my eyebrow piercing, but worried about how my boss would take it. That first night I tried to hide it with my bangs, but it was not easily done. Finally, I showed it to my supervisor, and asked him if it was a problem. He said he was fine with it as long as the owner approved. Perfect! Or not at all. The owner, Drew, happened to come in that night, and was unimpressed and said I had to immediately remove it or I could not work until it was removed.
I told Drew that I just had it done, and it was impossible to remove it right then. I had a minor freak out, and said I was leaving. This was in the middle of our busiest shift. He relented and told me that whenever it was safe, I would need to remove it, and he would increase my hourly rate.
That was only the first hurdle. My parents were the second. My mom was resigned to my interest in body modification through tattooing, but my dad was clueless. He did not know about my tattoos, as they are well hidden. However, a ring through the eyebrow is not so easily covered. When he realized what it was, he was horrified. Not only because I had a piercing on my face, but also because he is scared of needles. So looking at my eyebrow reminded him of needles, which made him queasy. He did not look or speak to me for a week.
The third hurdle was my grandparents. I genuinely thought I could keep my piercing covered with my hair. Na�ve, I know. I took them to breakfast, keeping my hair over my eye, and thought I had succeeded in them not noticing it. I was wrong. My grandfather turned to my grandmother on the way home and said, "Was that a ring through Amanda's eye?" They told me that if I took the ring out, they would give me $100, and my dad would match it.
I loved my eyebrow ring. I loved how it looked, I loved when people noticed it, I loved that it was not very popular (at that time), I loved playing with it � there was not one thing I disliked about it. But... I was in college, working two jobs, with a mountain of credit card debt. I was graduating in a few months. I was worried that I would not find a job with an unusual piercing on my face. I needed the $200 and the raise from my night job. After only 5 months, I took my piercing out.
I never thought I would be one to conform to other people's expectations over my own. But I did, and to this day, I regret it. I would love to get it done again, but now, to be honest, I am scared. I am older now, and the grief I would get outweighs the pleasure for me, even if it is all in my head. I always thought that I was a "do your own thing" kind of woman, but in this instance I am not. It saddens me in ways I cannot explain.