Piercings in Society

Body piercing is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn (Crystallinks). The cultural norms reflected in body piercing are various. They may include religion, spirituality, fashion, eroticism, conformism, or sub cultural identification. Body piercing is one of the oldest and most interesting forms of adornment and/or body modification, and the reasons for piercing the body are as diverse as the cultures from which they come.

The different forms of body piercing are quite diverse in the placement of the piercing and the techniques used. There are ear, facial, oral, genital and the general body piercings. The ear piercings are the most common type of body piercing found today in Western cultures. It is worn by both females and males and is widely accepted as the norm. It is usually a piece of jewelry worn in the ear. A common place to pierce ones ear is in the lobe,