There are various things I often mutter to myself about or even out loud at times and two of these are body piercing and tattoos.
About 37 years ago I had my ears pierced. "Why?" you ask. I have always loved to wear earrings and I found clip-ons either fell off or where too tight or sometimes in a pair there were both problems. I also didn't like the screw-on type for almost the same reasons. I therefore, along with my daughter, went to a reputable jeweller in Perth to have the deed done. K said she'd have hers done too but only after mine were done and she saw that it wasn't all that painful. Quite honestly it was no real problem and I did the right thing afterwards and kept turning the sleepers for the required time and then purchased several pairs of pretty earrings. K and I both still wear pierced earrings.
Since then of course thousands of people have decided they too want to be pierced but not just to wear a pair of earrings. Some decide they want to wear up to a dozen pairs at one time (is that an exaggeration perhaps?) but it is the other parts of the face and body that I find appalling. I know it is perhaps just me but when I see folk (male and female) with piercings in their nose, eyebrows, cheeks, tongues etc. it literally makes me feel quite ill. I realise that in tribes in other lands this type of behaviour is quite commonplace and they have many reasons (tribal etc) for doing it but does it have meaning to people in the Western world or is it just "the thing" to do? Phil even thought it strange when I had my ears pierced but then husbands don't always understand their wives do they?
In regard to tattoos I've noticed that many footballers in all codes today have multiple tattooing done and this I find quite hideous at times. I was watching a game of Aussie Rules (our team won by the way) and there was a player in the opposing team that had tattoos completely covering both arms. To me he looked as though he'd fallen in a pile of mud and not bothered washing the mud off. I could see nothing beautiful in it at all. I know ladies will sometimes have a small butterfly, heart or other object tattooed on a shoulder or less visible place and I will go along with that. I even thought of it myself years ago but decided not to because I asked myself 'why?"and "do I really need to? This is the type of thing I had in mind back then.
Recently on Facebook I saw a picture of what would have been a pretty tattoo a lady had had done where the red had caused a type of cancer and the whole area of the tattoo was raised up and swollen. It seemed she would have to undergo three operations to remove the damage or one big operation including plastic surgery. I felt sorry for her as it was the red ink that had caused the cancer and you could tell she'd had a rather elegant tattoo for reasons known only to her perhaps. Obviously tats are difficult to get rid of even if they've not caused any problems and I wonder how some of these men (and women too perhaps) will look when they are 60 or 70 years old and the skin on their arms, and other places, has sagged as it does with the help of gravity on all of us.
I would really enjoy reading your comments about the above. Do you too have likes and dislikes that you usually keep to yourself and yet feel it would be good to find out how others feel about them. If you have a topic then let me know and we'll see if we keep this Monday Mutterings going for a while. I am not sure how long I can come up with things that I ponder about but we'll see how it goes.
I too have pierced ears - and earrings are (yet) another of my obsessions. I have rather a lot. I have stretched lace over embroidery hoops and they hang from them on the wall when I am not wearing them. They are pretty - and I can always find pairs of earrings that way. I have three holes - two in my right ear, and one in my left.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason a pierced eyebrow makes me feel squirmy. There are others I don't like (tongue, and lip) but that one makes me wince.
A friend of mine did a radio interview shortly after piercing became popular. She was interviewing a young man and when he complained that his scrotum piercing had repeatedly become infected she said Eeeeuw. Loudly - and live to air.
And I agree.
How wonderful to have begun a discussion on these two subjects. I too love earrings but kakka has many more than I do and quite exotic ones as well. My smaller gold studs are the main fixture in my ears 24/7 unless I am going out somewhere special.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea you have had to store you earrings to you can find them easily. Brilliant.
I too find those in the eyebrows a bit yucky and one of our granddaughters had one in her tongue. I didn't like to look at her when she was talking.
I often wonder about those through the nose or tongue. What happens when they blow their noses or eat food? Doesn't bear thinking about.
Our lovely young hairdresser has a tiny diamond one in her lower cheek, just above and out from her lips, and on her it looks quite splendid. She is in her 30s, married with 3 lovely young daughters and always looks so fashionable. Perhaps, as with everything, if it is done in good taste it can be acceptable.
I can understand that interviewer making the comment she did and out loud too. Definitely Eeeeuw would cover it.
You didn't mention tattoos. Do you have an opinion about them I wonder.
I had my ears pierced at sixteen with my very first pay and bought a pair of earrings the same day. I couldn't wait to wear them! I turned the sleepers twice a day until the ears healed then proudly wore my gold hearts. Now, many years later, I have two piercings in each ear, but rarely wear earrings, just keeping the sleepers in. My older daughter had multiple piercings in her ears, but has let most of them close over and now doesn't wear earrings at all. My grand daughter has a pair of those awful earplugs which stretch the hole and when worn long enough the hole remains stretched, so the earplug has to stay in or the ear doesn't look nice with a big dangly hole in the lobe.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit ambivalent about tattoos. If I was to have one it would be small and discreet, but I choose not to have one. Three of my kids have them and they are certainly not small or discreet. I don't mind them on men, but they do look odd when the skin ages and wrinkles.
I really don't like facial tattoos or piercings at all. I know several women who have tiny diamond studs in their noses and they are hardly noticeable, but those big studs and rings in lips, tongues, eyebrows etc are really ugly in my opinion.
BUT.....it's their choice and when they say "what do you think?" all I can say is I don't like it.
D'you know I don't think people had their ears pierced when I was 16 or at least I never heard of anyone having it done. I guess my little gold studs are similar to your sleepers and I prefer them as can't get my comb caught in them. Quite comfy to sleep in as well.
ReplyDeleteI find talk of those earplugs quite gross and the only thing I can say is why? People's ear lobes get longer as they age so one can't help but wonder what they will look like when your granddaughter reaches middle or old age.
You will see more comments about facial and other piercings above when I responded to EC's comment.
One type of tattoo I forgot to mention was that of the Maoris and we are so used to seeing it that we take it for granted and it is once again done for a reason.
I will go along with you and I think we are entitled to say "I don't like it" if asked what we think about anything anyone has chosen to do to themselves.
My folks didn't seem to object to much that I did but then young people back then were actually just young adults and not that different to their parents. I must admit they weren't all that keen on my music but then what's not to like about Bill Haley or Frank Sinatra, Perry Como etc?
I love earrings Mimsie but have never had my ears pierced. I see the reason why to get them done though. My mother was in her 50's when she had hers done. I remember my father doing a lot of eye rolling at the time. Both my sister and mum had a dreadful time with infected ears afterwards, even though they both swore they followed the correct cleansing procedures, another reason I refused to have holes put in my ears. Their problems put me off for life. Like you I am not a fan of any other kind of body piercing and most definitely not one of tattoos. At one time I thought of that nice little butterfly but it was a thought that quickly passed out of my head. I know of young girls whose bodies are pretty well covered with massive tattoos, it is their choice. They obviously think it is beautiful but oh dear, they don't think beyond the now do they? I have enjoyed your Monday Mutterings Mimsie.
ReplyDeleteThank you Denise. I thought perhaps a bit of 'deep' thinking and discussion the way to go for change.
ReplyDeleteI had problems with one if my ears for years but Savlon would do the trick and now, after all these years, it is quite OK. It didn't get infected but just would be a bit sore.
Like you, I thought a wee butterfly (or kitten of course) the way to go but unless you can have someone go with you and you know the tattooist is reliable I still think it a big risk to take. I too see young women with tattoos and can't help wondering. Takes all kinds in different ways I guess.
Now I am old I seem to have enough little spots on my back so I think of them as my little tats. lol
Piercings and tattoos do not bodther me to look at but I prefer to keep the body the way God made it...mostly because I can't imagine myself putting it through the discomfort involved. I've not had my ears pierced because women in my family have problems with it...they get lumps under the skin around the piercing that never go away. I am so used to seeing the piercings, plugs and tattoos on others that I hardly notice them anymore.
ReplyDeleteKeep muttering on Monday Mimsie....I like it.
Thanks for your comment Delores.
DeletePerhaps I don't see enough people these days to get used to seeing these things. Of course when I watch footy I see the tattoos on the players and to me they quite often just look dirty.
It's strange that you mention those lumps under the skin after ear piercing. One of my ears tended to have a tiny lump for years but it seems to have finally gone away and I don't have problems with that ear now.
Hari OM
ReplyDelete(Lovely idea this!) The only folk I knew of at school who had earrings were the Italian sisters... they got done as toddlers as is the tradition for them. I had dreadful trouble with clip ons so when I was 18 (and didn't need parental permission) off I went and had them pierced. Never regretted that as the variety is much wider. I divested myself of lots of my collection when leaving OZ, but still have quite a range and I LOVE EC's solution to keeping them tidy as well as making an artwork of them... gonna steal that idea!! Have never considered having additional piercings though. I do find the faces full of metal and then extraneous bits as well a tad off-putting. Not as much though as tattoos.
I have a good friend who for her 50th decided to have a tatt. I would never have thought it of her! It as a small spiral on her wrist and does actually look quite good. So I am with the comments above that say small, discreet and tasteful can work fine, even on older skin. Trouble is majority I see don't fit these criteria!! In the end, fashion is as fasion does but by applying it so indelibly, one can't help wondering what these folk will be feeling like 10, 20, 40 years from now...
Phew. That felt good. Thanks Mimsie!! YAM xx
Thanks Yam, that is a powerful comment and I enjoyed reading it. I too thought EC's solution a great one and I am sure she won't mind you borrowing it one little bit.
DeleteI totally agree with you that small, discreet tats are fine but still can't help wondering why people, male and female, go to such extremes.
I hope I can come up with more interesting topics to promote more discussions. xx
I didn't have my ears pierced till I was 19 and it hurt the baby I am. I don't like the tattoos much either and I loved your description that they look like they have fallen over in a pile of mud. I admire the young girls that have the right look and wear the tattoo sleeves well. Though I do wonder at what stage will they regret that. Rae xxx
ReplyDeleteI must have been about 44 when I had my ears pierced and didn't find it all that painful. It was downstairs in a jewellers in Hay Street at the top of either Plaza or Piccadilly Arcade. They would be long gone now but they were very well known at the time.
DeleteI think you are spot on when you wonder when some of the young girls who've had so much tattooing done will regret being so foolish.