"Why would you put all those extra holes in your body?" a coworker asked me after I mentioned my new piercing. He was looking for an answer that was deep and held some kind of psychological significance. All I could really come up with sounded too clich�, it's something I've always wanted. I can remember being fascinated by the people I knew who'd been pierced, the punks with safety pins in their ears in the eighties, and a friend with a few piercings below the neck in the mid-nineties. I had never gotten one because I'd always thought that I had to have a flat stomach and otherwise perfect body so they would look good.
At A Glance Author Susan Contact [email protected] When N/A
My first piercings were the ears, of course. However, that didn't happen until I was 16 and went away for the summer. It was an adornment that I had always wanted. It also helped me become more like everyone else I knew. Back then, my fashion sense was on the punk/new wave side, so the choices I made helped to set me apart from my more conservative classmates. I have always been different from people around me in some way and have not needed any body modifications to stand out from the crowd. From 5th through 12th grade, I was one of a handful of Black students in a predominantly white school. I was also overweight for all of that time, unlike everyone else.
Just before graduating from college, I got two more piercings. Each ear was now double pierced. The trend in 1989 was to choose one ear and pierce it from top to bottom, so by being symmetrical with the earlobe piercings, I once again went my own way. I would have been fine with more than two in each ear, but I did have to get a job in the "real world" so I stopped at two. A few years later I had lost some weight and wanted to get a navel piercing, but I didn't think my belly was flat enough yet. While I was working on it, life happened, and I started gaining weight again. I gave up on piercings until now, twelve years later.
What got me started again was my best friend's birthday. She decided to get her first tattoo in 2003. I haven't found the right art to keep on my body forever, so I looked at piercings again. Also, being afraid of needles makes getting a tattoo difficult. At my last medical checkup, I almost had a panic attack while waiting for the blood to be drawn for lab tests. I realize needles are also used in piercing, but they just penetrate the skin once, then the jewelry is inserted and it's all over except for the healing. Since I could have a friend there holding my hand and distracting me from the part where the needle passes through my skin, I thought it would be easier to experience than having my blood drawn.
I researched the possibilities of which body parts I would pierce, what the procedures and aftercare were like, and where I could go here in town to get it done. The Association of Professional Piercers website (www.safepiercing.org) had plenty of information on what to expect before, during, and after the procedure. I found plenty of personal experiences to read, as well as an encyclopedia of piercing, at www.bmezine.com
At the time of my research, I was also taking a microbiology class, so the cleanliness standards were very important. The APP has very high standards for sterilization of its member piercing studios. Having been pierced in both of the APP member studios here in Houston, and I was very pleased with the level of professionalism. I felt very uncomfortable walking in the first time and asking for my piercing, but the people in the studio helped put me at ease. Knowing that I could walk in, ask for a piercing, and not be judged, made the second piercing experience easier, although I did drive around the block a couple of times before I went in.
After each piercing, I have felt just a little more free, more comfortable in my own body. So really, the piercings are a way for me to accept my body just the way it is. I'm still working on improving it, but what if I never get to that ideal picture I want to see? Life is too short, so if you're thinking about it, figure out what you want, research who the best in your area is, and just do it. Make a sober decision, and chances are you won't regret it. You just have to make that first step, open the door, take a deep breath, and don't look back.
Susan owns a small day spa in Houston, TX, cares well for her six and one half adornments (one hole is being re-pierced in April), and is still looking for artwork to have on herself forever.