Is it OK to pierce a baby's ears?

whitesculptor

The princess whispers & the keyboard clacks.
Joined
Mar 16, 2021
Messages
139
Points
83
When something is done by the majority of the population it becomes ok. Personally wouldn't do it, can always use some fake earrings so they try and see if they like it.
Often one will either have rigid parents, my partner ones only allowing her first piercing at 18 years, whilst in other cases you may get them from the get go, or even as a 7 year old that saw these beautiful earrings and wanted to try them.
Different parents, different parenting.
The world is full of choices, one can only choose which ones.
 

ConcubusBunny

Chaotic lewd enby bunny. They/them
Joined
Feb 10, 2020
Messages
261
Points
83
Is it OK to pierce a child's ears before they can consent to it?

I saw that someone I went to high school with pierced her baby's ears. The baby is younger than mine, and I find this upsetting. I feel that it sends a message to the child that they don't get to decide what happens to their body.
I find this highly common in my country to any AFAB that gets born the first thing they do is pierce their ear and as they grow up they are forced to wear ear rings to look more feminine and beautiful, they say this to a minor mind. So I'd say yes giving a child who may or may not even like wearing earrings or have their body pierced is definitely wrong let them grow up first educate them on get earrings then see if they want to pierce them no matter the Assigned gender. People in my country have got this weird fetish that every AFAB most have earrings and any amab that does us seen as a hoodlum that hasn't gotten their life together or is trying to be rebellious.
 

Echimera

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
271
Points
103
When something is done by the majority of the population it becomes ok. Personally wouldn't do it, can always use some fake earrings so they try and see if they like it.
Often one will either have rigid parents, my partner ones only allowing her first piercing at 18 years, whilst in other cases you may get them from the get go, or even as a 7 year old that saw these beautiful earrings and wanted to try them.
Different parents, different parenting.
The world is full of choices, one can only choose which ones.
Hard disagree on the first sentence. History is full of messed up stuff that was considered OK because it was done by 'the majority', but that doesn't mean these things were OK by any universally applicable moral framework and only became immoral because we grew as a culture. And a moral framework that is dictated by what the current rulers want is really not something that we should strife towards.

To the topic at hand, I don't even get why one would want a baby to have their ears pierced. Earrings sound like a really bad idea for someone with bad coordination, which babies tend to have, last I checked.
And when children reach school age I'd say something as (usually) harmless as earrings are something the children in question can decide on themselves.
The extreme, when children are decked out with expensive jewelry and stuff by their parents gets really creepy, tbh. Tied for the top spot with culture straight up enforcing that girls have to wear earrings, as far as earring related topics are concerned.


Since circumcision and related health benefits were brought up, those are a lot less important nowadays (and in developed countries) when we have easy access to clean water and stuff, so I seen no justification to do that to children without explicit medical need for it.
It sets a really bad precedent by putting a ritual derived from an ancient culture above the bodily autonomy of someone way too young to understand the culture it comes from and if they actually agree with that culture.
 

Tropic_Panda

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2021
Messages
51
Points
58
My personal opinion: proper piercing cost some money, so i prefer use the money to buy milk for the kid. If someday she want to get ear piercing, i will ask her to use her pocket money.

ps: That's if someday i have a kid. Though, it's super low posibility. I already comfortable to become a solo player.
 
Last edited:

KoyukiMegumi

Kitty
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
898
Points
133
@KoyukiMegumi since you're the only nurse I know, please enlighten us as to the actual safety of such a procedure. Consent aside
Heheh... I shall enlighten Cake Senpai! :blob_aww:

Ear piercing is one of the safest procedures done if done right and with a professional. There are pediatricians that do it, so I would recommend always do it with a doctor than with a clerk at a store. Most importantly, it's reversible. Of course, everything ever done to break the layers of the skin can lead to infections. This means that the child/baby/adult must care for the site for a couple of weeks while it heals.

The procedure can also expose your child to allergies and blood born diseases. This happens if the equipment isn't sterile. So it is important to make sure the place you get your piercing is the right one. We don't want to get Hep or HIV because we want to get a cheap piercing. Waste a couple of more monies for your safety.

As for the topic at hand... Children can't consent to anything. If you are going to wait to give them a reversible procedure, do it once they can take care of it by themselves. Toddlers won't know to care for their ears and, well, it increases the chances of infections. *They won't have clean hands and well, I am sure they will touch their ears without a care in the world.*

Be aware that children see things. So your kid might see some earrings and they might be like "Mommy, I want it too." At that point, I would use some of those earrings that you can clip on, but be wary that also comes with risks. Fake jewelry can cause some nasty allergies to the skin, so I would refer you to use hypoallergenic ones. This means gold, silver, platinum, surgical steel, and much more examples. Though you never know if your kid will react to that either.

Everything in life is risk/benefits. One will out weight the other always. Usually, for cosmetic things such as piercings, people usually find it something they want to have. This goes for males and females. Sadly for the males, some schools may not allow them to have piercings. So that is another thing to have in mind. *I find this unfair. If ladies can have them, then so should gentlemen.*

When doing things for children, just remember the consent is the parents, not the kids. Yes, you can wait until they are older to ask them, but it doesn't hurt them either for you to do the burden of taking care of their ear. *It's a lot of weeks, most times to 4 months or so.* I got my ears pierced when I was a baby and, well, I never hated my caretakers for doing it.

After all, THIS IS REVERSIBLE. Please don't compare this to genital mutilation. One is done for life, while the other is cosmetic and will close up in a matter of months. :blob_catflip: FYI There are no benefits for any type of genital mutilation. Better hygiene? Pfft... Man, just clean your shlong and you will be fine.

On this note also, don't use those earrings that fuck up your earlobes. There is surgery to correct it, but why go through that? I mean, it's your life, but you will have baggy earlobes from earrings those god-awful heavy earrings. Or worse... those circle ones to make the hole bigger.:sweating_profusely:
 
Last edited:

K5Rakitan

Level 34 👪 💍 Pronouns: she/whore ♀
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
8,164
Points
233
Personally, I don't think circumcising a baby is right, either. We didn't circumcise ours. Historically, circumcision was done to prevent masturbation. It doesn't do that, and circumcised people feel less pleasure from their genitals. Circumcised people just have to masturbate longer to get the same effect.

I read that there is a slight reduction in HIV transmission from circumcision, but hopefully we'll have a vaccine for that by the time today's babies are sexually active. I've read that the Covid vaccine came out so quickly due to research on an HIV vaccine, and now that we've accelerated research down those lines, we are also on the cusp of an HIV vaccine.

Even if we don't see an HIV vaccine soon, I think that wearing a condom is still a safer route, and he'll be more willing to wear a condom if he has all the sensation that nature intended him to have. My husband has foreskin, and we're not ready for another baby yet, so we've gone back to using condoms. Of course my husband doesn't like wearing condoms, but he doesn't make a huge fuss over it like my circumcised ex-boyfriend did when I had to stop taking hormonal birth control due to depression.

As for ear piercing in my own child, I think that five years is a good minimum age, but only if he really wants it. In fact, I'd make him spend his own allowance on it if it is something he really wants. While I would enjoy making earrings for him, I'm not going to cajole him into getting pierced. I can just as easily make clip-on earrings or magnetic earrings.

I am, however, going to offer to paint his nails without making him spend his allowance on nail polish. I think it would be a good exercise in patience for him, and I think that glow-in-the-dark nail polish would be a lot of fun for him. He's definitely not old enough for that, of course, but someday! If he doesn't like nail polish, there are other exercises in patience we can present him with.
 

tiaf

ゞ(シㅇ3ㅇ)っ•♥•Speak fishy, read BL.•♥•
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
2,255
Points
153
I remember holding a small grudge against my parents for not piercing my ears as a baby. My mom then scolded me. She was scared that rolling baby me would somehow rip it off :sweating_profusely:

I got my ears pierced twice, thrice? Well, elementary school me was too stupid to let my piercings heal (impatient kiddo) and when I was older I went to a doctor, who didn’t pierce them symmetrical.

I then went to get a third piercing to balance it out. Sadly, stupid adult me managed to get an infection on my should-be-long-healed piercing beside the third piercing. It scarred on the backside and now I can’t wear earrings anymore lol. (But I will get the scarred pierced again by a proper piercer, they got more experience.)

Idk, I think piercing baby ears is not some kind of unforgivable sin. Just today I saw a 8-month baby with big bling bling gold earrings. It didn’t behave any different to other babies. On the other hand I met a girl in the past, who disliked her piercings and held a grudge for it. ╮ ( ̄ヮ  ̄) ╭
 

Echimera

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
271
Points
103
It didn’t behave any different to other babies.
That would be one of the potential problems. Babies touch everything and have bad coordination.
It's really easy for them to get dirt into the newly pierced ears and trigger an infection.
It's really easy for them to injure themselves when they get earrings tangled up in something they are playing with.

Just today I saw a 8-month baby with big bling bling gold earrings.
I find that kind of thing a bit creepy, tbh.
While that may not always be the case, to me it comes off as the parents using their baby as a living billboard for their status, and that just screams to me that these parents won't let the child grow up as their own person and instead have their whole life planned out beforehand.
 

Ai-chan

Queen of Yuri Devourer of Traps
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
1,413
Points
153
Is it OK to pierce a child's ears before they can consent to it?

I saw that someone I went to high school with pierced her baby's ears. The baby is younger than mine, and I find this upsetting. I feel that it sends a message to the child that they don't get to decide what happens to their body.
It's not about consent. It's about whether or not it's harmful to the baby. If you're a mom, and you're thinking of piercing your baby daughter's ears, you probably shouldn't. Not because of consent, but because there is no point in putting earrings on babies, especially if you're the neglecting type. The hole could get infected, it could snag on things, the pointy end of the stud could punch through the baby's soft skin and cause blood infection. Etc etc etc.

If you're the mother and you want to do it anyway, it's your call. There has not been any record of any serious medical issues from piercing your baby other than the fear of infection, but adults too can be infected from ear piercing, so that's probably a moot point. It used to be that you pierce your child while still a baby as their lobes are softer when they're still babies and thus easier to pierce without major trauma. But we are not in the middle ages anymore. A professional piercing salon can do the same even to adults in just a few seconds with barely any trauma.

If you're asking for opinion, Ai-chan would say, "Just wait until she asks for it."
 

K5Rakitan

Level 34 👪 💍 Pronouns: she/whore ♀
Joined
Apr 15, 2020
Messages
8,164
Points
233
I find that kind of thing a bit creepy, tbh.
While that may not always be the case, to me it comes off as the parents using their baby as a living billboard for their status, and that just screams to me that these parents won't let the child grow up as their own person and instead have their whole life planned out beforehand.
That's exactly how I feel! While I do have fantasies about who I would like my child to be, I'm not going to force him down any particular path. We think he might wind up as an athlete given how much he kicked as a fetus and how active he is now, but we're introducing him to a wide variety of opportunities to learn, grow and decide what he likes. Music, art, science — we're going to make sure he gets well-rounded experiences. He's already banging on the xylophone we got him! Actually, we got two xylophones because his grandma wants to do duets. Grandma also likes showing him the pumpkins she's growing.
 

SailusGebel

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 7, 2020
Messages
8,875
Points
233
Unless it's something life-threatening, parents can do whatever the hell they want. It's not like there is a guide on how to raise children. So, it's ok.
 

KoyukiMegumi

Kitty
Joined
Jun 11, 2021
Messages
898
Points
133
Personally, I don't think circumcising a baby is right, either. We didn't circumcise ours. Historically, circumcision was done to prevent masturbation. It doesn't do that, and circumcised people feel less pleasure from their genitals. Circumcised people just have to masturbate longer to get the same effect.

I read that there is a slight reduction in HIV transmission from circumcision, but hopefully we'll have a vaccine for that by the time today's babies are sexually active. I've read that the Covid vaccine came out so quickly due to research on an HIV vaccine, and now that we've accelerated research down those lines, we are also on the cusp of an HIV vaccine.

Even if we don't see an HIV vaccine soon, I think that wearing a condom is still a safer route, and he'll be more willing to wear a condom if he has all the sensation that nature intended him to have. My husband has foreskin, and we're not ready for another baby yet, so we've gone back to using condoms. Of course my husband doesn't like wearing condoms, but he doesn't make a huge fuss over it like my circumcised ex-boyfriend did when I had to stop taking hormonal birth control due to depression.
Another little educational chat here:~:blob_happy:
Vaccines aren't 100%. So, I wouldn't fully commit to them. They can fail for multiple reasons or might need yearly reinforcements like influenza. Are they needed? Yes. Will they save everyone? No. This means always use condoms. Stay safe... Better than regret. *This doesn't mean don't get vaccinated. Please do...*

Condoms should always be used unless you want a child. But they aren't for sexually transmitted diseases prevention too. Do they protect you? Yes, but are they 100% effective? No. What to do about this? Get tested and have your partners tested.

The best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases 3 ways:
1. Sex Education. The more the child knows, the more likely he/she will make a good decision.
2. Don't have sex. But hell, we know we will. So don't shelter your kids. I would recommend the earlier they know about sex, the better. I have seen 10-year-olds and such preggers. Males can get women preggers even easier.
3. Don't have multiple partners. And if you do, you better know who the heck they are having sex with and such. I recommend getting both parties or multiple people tested. *Safest way to know you are safe. Remember, no one wears an I have STD sticker on their face.* And many don't even know they have an STD. Usually, males have fewer symptoms than women. HPV is a great example of this.

HIV isn't the only thing one can get. And it certainly isn't the worst anymore. It's treatable, but not curable. In other words, it won't go to the worse stage of Aids. Medication can get pricey depending on where one lives too.

I have never heard of having no foreskin to prevent HIV. In fact, thinking anatomically, I find it ridiculous. Why? Because the urethra will still have bodily secretions and it will also receive those. So, the foreskin having it or not prevents nothing. HIV is transmitted through blood or fluids found in sexual intercourse. It can get through any exposure, such as cuts.



Also, I am glad you dumped that boyfriend. He sounds like an utter jerk. Hormonal treatments are shitty to go through. Many patients, including myself, don't tolerate them. They have some nasty side effects, including the depression you spoke of.


:blob_aww: Please always weigh the risks/benefits when doing this.
 
Joined
Sep 2, 2020
Messages
119
Points
83
Is it OK to pierce a child's ears before they can consent to it?

I saw that someone I went to high school with pierced her baby's ears. The baby is younger than mine, and I find this upsetting. I feel that it sends a message to the child that they don't get to decide what happens to their body.
My answer will be the question does the baby really need a piercing?
 

Derin_Edala

Active member
Joined
Jun 12, 2021
Messages
127
Points
43
speaking on principle, it's probably wrong, akin to circumcision, but it's probably something they'll see as natural. it's like growing an extra finger @ birth vs growing one out of nowhere when you're an adult. you'll see yourself as natural in the former but go ballistics in the latter.
Circumcision is a lot worse because the effects are a lot more permanently damaging. Ear piercing has a very low death rate and the only permanent effect is some minimal scarring (assuming the kid doesn't keep the holes later), with a minor risk of more severe scarring in case of infection. Circumcision is far more damaging and dangerous. I don't think either should be done to a baby, though.

I don't think it's moral to pierce a baby's ears and it weirds me the fuck out when parents do it, but I also don't think it's a big enough deal to fight over. Parents do all kinds of weird things to their kids and ear piercing is one of the more harmless practices.
 
Top