By Ariana Rathan and Molly Chang
What is that on your nose?
A nose piercing!
What?!
With all of the pop culture and different views of piercings, you have either experienced this yourself or have seen it happen to those around you.
Have you seen the glimmer and the glam of the different piercings that shine from ear to ear? All of the different placements, how big and how small!
These popularized pieces of metal are things that have changed and evolved over time, coming from different cultures, traditions and eventually trends.
These small things have even caused controversy in this day and age. Could you believe that it is a requirement in some cultures and religions and forbidden in others?
They can be viewed as a right of passage or a look of disgust. They can be seen as a defining part of your physical appearance and different judgments.
How could a piece of metal have that big of an effect on others around you?
Piercings have more of an influence than you would think and more of a history than you would assume.
The different range of beliefs of these small dainty things is ever so evolving even in our modern day and time, but they started a long time ago, during ancient times.
Tracing back years to 5,000 years ago and even more, there has been proof of piercings found in different artifacts and observations.
Different types of piercings that were popularized were tongue piercings, nose piercings, nipple piercings and regular ear piercings in ancient societies of Africa, Israel and Rome. They all had different meanings, stretching from a show of your wealth to a show of prostitution.
A lot of cultures such as ones located in South Asia got piercings to ward off evil spirits and different demons and bad health.
As seen by Europeans, piercings on the face were seen as exotic and odd and were also forbidden because of the Christianity and Catholic type of religion that forbid all people to make alterations to their bodies as they were seen to be made in God’s image. Europeans would consider themselves higher class than anyone else. But even though they were seen as something so far from the norm, they started to get popularized.
As more different cultures started immigrating to the United States, they brought their culture and tradition with them.
The rebel years ranged from the 70s to the early 2000s when Americans started to become very accepting of this form of self-expression. They also started to get piercings in different places and adapt what many ancient civilizations had been piercing for years.
One of the first few body piercings shops, The Gauntlet, was opened in Nov. 17, 1978. It was created by Jim Ward, who is also known as the “grandfather” of piercings.
As the different stages of America and its progressivity moved on, society became less conservative and more inclusive in accepting piercings as a norm.
During the 2000s, nipple piercings were a huge statement in pop culture and popularized among the runways and the fashion world. It started to become more of a trend. Popular influences who were often in the light of the media, such as Kylie Jenner and Naomi Campbell, got nipple piercings and were shown throughout all of the different platforms.
Also, the different advertising that was put out during this time was everywhere. It was almost seen as a right of passage for little girls ranging from babies to toddlers to get their ears pierced early on.
The different studies and types of artifacts that were put in museums were proof of the type of fashion and popularity of piercings in this day and age.
Some more popular piercings that are popular nowadays are cartilage piercings, nose piercings and multiple lobe piercings just to name a few!
Even though these piercings are not everyone’s cup of tea, they are a beautiful way of expressing oneself and giving another source of individuality to modern people, one piercing at a time!
