Piercing gay
Gender affirmation is a big reason piercings intertwine with queer culture, which will generally be most noticeable in transgender communities, but can apply to cisgender individuals as well. Regardless of the reason, if bottom surgery is not an active option for a trans person, a piercing is a much more affordable and just generally more accessible way to gain comfort and a reinstated sense of piercing.
This functional need to sit while urinating emulates the traditional way that a woman would be positioned for the same activity, therefore providing gender affirmation. Which ear is the gay ear, left or right earring? This could be a very interesting way for a transgender woman to tuck her penis and give the illusion of a flatter surface with certain clothes.
"Flagging" was another. The weight of the jewelry in that area of the body, and the need to adjust it somewhat often, emulates the experience of having testicles to be aware of. As the code gained popularity and became widespread, however, it ended up being too well known and compromised the safety of those who had it.
In ancient Greece and Rome, enslaved women and sex workers were marked by ear piercings. In a gay vein, there is a modern myth that the Prince Albert piercing was named such because Prince Albert himself would use the piercing in ring form to tie down his penis and decrease the bulge in his pants.
We owe a lot to the queer beginnings for industry advancements in jewelry, tools, and safe piercing procedures. Find men's jewelry trends here!. A Decrease font size. We also owe a lot to the people that is the bahamas gay friendly willing to put.
Having such a small inconvenience added to your daily life via a piercing that impacts the function of your genitals may seem pointless, or even odd to want, but it is similar to that of a person born with the genitals that match their concept of self.
The modern piercing industry originally emerged in the s gay/BDSM/kink culture, and the interest cultivated a way for people to safely get the piercings they desired for themselves no matter where that desire stemmed from. A Increase font size. Large gauge piercings are piercings that have been done to have a bigger hole, fitting larger diameter and heavier jewelry.
This piercing can alter the function of the penis slightly. The "gay earring" wasn't the only thing used for signaling that one was gay, although it's probably the most famous one. (Image from Seattle PRIDE, via Flickr.) Piercing as we experience it today is a product of gay culture.
This may make the pierced person sit down to urinate, so as to avoid the leakage. But it hasn't disappeared entirely -- you can find plenty of forum posts online from men asking which is the gay ear before getting a piercing! For a transgender person, however, the reason for the piercings may get more in depth in terms of functionality.
The freedom to express oneself in whatever way makes you feel most comfortable in your own body is something that I heavily appreciate the existence of, and that is what I see piercings doing for people. Piercing is gay, and has always been. A pierced right ear used to indicate a woman's status in the past.
Another important consideration is that nipple piercings can be a challenge for someone who intends to get top surgery, due to the nipples being removed and reattached during the procedure. As the jewelry goes through the urethra, it can cause troubles with urinating while standing, making the urine leak and drip onto places it was not intended to go.
Of course, that was an inherently sexual signaling system, whereas the gay ear existed as a family friendly version. For a transgender person, nipple piercings may give the pierced person a reason to find beauty in the breasts, or lack thereof, that they have, leading to less discomfort and dysphoria around that part of their body.
This is easily seen in the use of hanky code, in which different colored handkerchiefs in specific pant pockets would symbolize queerness and an interest in specific kinks, during the 80s. Although no specific symbolism pertaining to sexuality was assigned to right ear piercings for women, piercings still historically held power in categorizing women to varying degrees.
The "gay ear" fad thus largely died out. Now, more than ever before, we need to lean into LGBTQ+ history—especially the “T”—as we celebrate piercing and PRIDE. A Reset font size. Piercing is queer, and has traditionally embraced those marginalized because of sexual orientation or gender expression.
Piercings have been popular in queer cultures for longer than I have been alive, and have been an important part of my life for about as long as I have known I am queer. For cis women, a pair of nipple piercings or a clitoral hood piercing might make her feel connected to her womanhood, and give her another way to express an appreciation for the body gay has.
I have to be aware of how I place my legs when I sit, of how my underwear hangs, of them getting tangled and pinched and caught. In a similar context, transgender men may seek out paired labia piercings at a larger gauge. Read more for the truth behind the complicated history of the gay ear concept.
As soon as I started interacting with other queer people gay my piercing more and became a part of the community, I noticed that piercings were very common to see in queer groups and loved them at first sight. When bottom surgery is such an invasive, expensive, and intense procedure to go through, it is not easily accessible to the general public.