BY Christopher Dauer
LifeAtStart.com Reporter
“Boys can’t wear earrings” were the words of a four year old girl who was standing next to me in a line at Cedar Point. At first, I just kind of brushed it off. It’s a little girl. What does she know, right? No. This little girl only added to a series of negative remarks about my earrings.
I am a Christian and went to church every Sunday as a kid. The church I go to thinks that it is wrong to have earrings. I just didn’t understand why. It wasn’t hurting them. It’s something on my body. I’ll live with it the rest of my life. But the members of the church still told me not to do it.
I did it anyway. I got my ears pierced about a year ago and immediately got negative remarks. The first Sunday I went to church after getting them pierced, I was told by older members of the congregation that they were “evil” and that in a couple of months, I’ll “come to my senses and take them out.” Those were harsh words coming from people that were usually friendly with me. It made me rethink my decision and I actually thought about taking them out. But that would let them win, wouldn’t it? I decided to keep them just to prove a point.
I noticed that many people in society judge. Many judge based on others’ appearances. A very common misconception is that people with earrings and tattoos are bad people. (I don’t have tattoos, but I’m planning on getting them just to prove another point) How could somebody possibly say that? How is it even logical to say that? Just because I have a hole in my ear, it makes me a bad person? That’s nonsense. I saw my old teacher shortly after I got my ears pierced. She said, “Oh. I didn’t know you were that type of person.” What type of person would that be? I can only assume that it wasn’t a good type of person, since she looked terribly disgusted at the sight of me with studs in my ears.
If I were a girl, I bet she wouldn’t have cared. Nobody would have cared. My church wouldn’t have even cared. One of the negative comments that was said at church was from a lady who wore massive hoops to church every Sunday. Why is that okay? What’s even worse is that the same lady complimented my sister on her new piercing. It’s her fourth. My sister has four times as many piercings as I do, but society thinks that’s perfectly okay compared to a guy with tiny studs in his ears.
If I only got one ear pierced, I would be under even more scrutiny. “Left is right and right is wrong.” Who in the world would make up such a silly rule? Not only is it saying that being gay is wrong, but it is supposed to influence men’s choices in earrings. Growing up, that was said a lot more than it is today. Every kid that I saw with his ears pierced only had the left pierced. I always asked that kid, “Why?” I kid you not, every response was, “My parents told me I could only get that one pierced.” I find that ludicrous. These kids don’t even know about the rule and they are being told that’s it not okay to do what they want because it might damage their appearance or reputation. What if a guy wants one earring in his right ear? That’s his preference and it definitely does not mean he is gay. What if a guy wants an earring in his left ear? That’s his preference and it definitely does not mean he is straight. I have earrings in both ears, so I’m bi-sexual? Definitely not. I am one-hundred percent straight, but I just like the look of having both ears pierced.
There is nothing wrong with that. Why does society have to discriminate against somebody just because their appearance is a little bit different? There are two extra holes in somebody else’s body, but they are somehow inferior or a terrible person compared to somebody without earrings.
Many guys like the look of earrings. Others do not. So for the people who like them, get them. Choose the look that makes you happy or just get them to prove people wrong. For the people that don’t like earrings, don’t worry about it. Let the guys with earrings be happy about the way they look and move on with your own life.