Talk:Earring

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NEEDS REFERENCES but otherwise comprehensive and well-organized. Daniel Case 04:04, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
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Article Grading: The following comments were left by the quality and importance raters: (edit · refresh)

NEEDS REFERENCES but otherwise comprehensive and well-organized. Daniel Case 04:04, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] New Images

Anybody can upload nice pictures of earrings and ear with earrings? wshun 05:13, 13 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I was thinking about it if & when I ever get my scanner working -- what would be really nice though are historical photos, maybe stuff from different cultures, etc. Brassratgirl 05:03, 6 Sep 2003 (UTC)
We need more pictures! Hopefully I will get around to uploading some images, but if anyone else cares to, have at it! Earpol 01:16, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I might be able to get a picture up of my ears. I have multiple lobe and cartilage piercings. I noitced there wasn't a picture of a cartilage piercing.

[edit] Left ear/Right ear

Unfortunately, the thing about L=straight, R=gay keeps being added in by an anonymous user, so we can't contact the person doing it. It's not true now, it never really was, and it most certainly is historically inaccurate. Maybe the person will read this and actually do some research and actually see that it's not true. tooki 18:07, 26 May 2004

Since other misinformation has come from this ISP, I was ready to delete this very doubtful passage, but I see it has been put in the urban legend category already. --Wetman 23:07, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)
For what it's worth, in 1981 when I decided to get my ear pierced, I remember, urban legend or not, that "it was believed" that putting the ring in your right ear was a way of making a particular kind of statement about sexuality, while putting the ring in your left ear was neutral with regard to that. I also remember at that time that men piercing both ears was pretty much unheard of. Evertype 13:31, 2005 Mar 6 (UTC)
Well as far as I know, among young people in the U.S. and especially in the hip hop/urban *subculture* most guys wear earrings either one the left ear or both. But they're generally never worn only on the right ear, because that supposeadly means they're gay. Oh FYI im not the one that keeps adding the L-straight/R-gay thing Guanaco152003 00:31, 10 October 2005 (UTC)
I live in the midwest and for most of my life I was told the left ear is the ear signifying homosexuality. Then I got the right one pierced and was informed by several that it's the other way around. Col.clawhammer 07:17, 27 April 2007 (UTC)
I too heard frequently in the 1990s that the right side was the homosexual side. It seems that there's enough knowledge of this L/R preference to where it has some credibility. If enough people believe such a code and abide by it, even if it's unfounded, then it's true among those people. I support this rule of thumb being added into the article. -Rolypolyman (talk) 22:53, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
I rewrote the left/right ear paragraph just to make it readable. Nonetheless, it's all blatant original research. There's probably some sources on the subject somewhere. Perhaps someone who's invested in this article can find some and fix up that section. To be honest, the whole history section needs sourcing and vetting. Unfortunately, I'm tied up on other articles. Otherwise, I'd do it myself. cheers, ask123 (talk) 06:07, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] About starter earrings

I just got my earlobes pierced 3 weeks ago. Today I finally managed to have the starter earrings removed by a stud opener tool.

I would like to add that it is not true that one has to wait for 6 weeks before removing the starter earrings. If you discover any swelling or continuous fluid discharge from raw skin around the piercing, do consult a doctor. It may be the beginning of an infection. Most starter earrings punched into your earlobes using a piercing gun are metal (silver,gold,platinum) plated studs. Many people are allergic to plated jewellery because of certain substances that are required to harden the material.

For my case, I think I would have healed quicker if I had removed the starter earrings in the second week and replaced them with some real gold/platinum studs. After the removal, I witnessed pieces of plating scraped off from my starter studs, exposing some black material underneath. Tells alot of the durability of common starter studs.

What I have learnt: Do exercise care after the piercings, and never put off consulting a qualified personnel for advice when not all is smooth.

By: teoani (contact via blog) 17:05, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

Removing jewelry early can result in infection and excessive scaring. Maybe if you had gone to a profetional piercer and had your ears done properly there would not be any continuous fluid discharge because they use sharp needles and high quality, properly sized jewelry. not the rubbish they use with guns. you get what you pay for! Also it is mainly the high quantities of nickle in the cheap plated jewelry that cause the reation. in addition it might be important to note that you cant properly sterilise almost all piercing guns and most shops don't have the correct facilities to do so anyway. Anyone fancy hepatitis? Piratedawson 15:14, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Prior to the 'gun and stud' method becoming universally used, the lobe was pierced by a device that was similar to a hyperdermic syringe that pushed a needle through the lobe and a hinged hoop earring known as a sleeper was then inserted into the hole, fastened up and left for 6 weeks whilst the piercing healed, The sleeper was made form pure gold and then turned daily until healed. Sleepers have been used by people when the stud has not let the hole heal properly.Paulmcg129 ([[User talk:Paulmcg129]) 19:52, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, I would never get ears pierced anywhere that uses anything but gold or stainless steel jewelry. нмŵוτнτ 22:50, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FAQ

I'm a bit puzzled what the "FAQ" section in this article is doing here. Where are these questions frequently asked? Not on Wikipedia. Our responsibility here is to present facts, not advice. There must be a way to present the facts embedded in this section more encyclopedically. The question "Does it make any difference if a man pierces his left earlobe or his right earlobe?'" is entirely inappropriate here, because it begs for an opinion (which is what the answer offers). That's a violation of WP:NPOV, and it's why I tried to remove it and replace it with purely factual historical information. Tverbeek 03:50, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I disagree. The left vs. right concept has been embedded in the article's editing for sometime. With regards to male ear piercing, it is still believed by some people and certainly has some history behind it. Therefore, I feel it deserves to be in the article someplace, but placing into the "encyclopedic" portion of the article would add more weight than it deserves. Earpol 16:43, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Of course the article should mention it, but Wikipedia policy requires that it be done in a strictly factual manner. The question and answer paragraph didn't do that, and since Wikipolicy requires the whole article to be encyclopedic (not just a portion of), I removed it. FAQ format is a handy way to write up information, but it's also a sloppy technique, which is why I'm going to rewrite the article to get rid of it, putting information like whether it hurts into a plain statment of fact, rather than an answer to some hypoethetical person's question. Tverbeek 19:05, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ear Whimsies/Cuffs/Clips? (Non-piercing)

Is there a standard name for a non-piercing earring that cuffs behind and around the earlobe, like certain forms of headphones? I was hoping to at least find a standardized name for it... It doesn't appear like it should belong with Ear Cuffs in particular because there's a difference between a cuff that latches onto the exterior edge of the ear as opposed to what I'm wearing.

I've heard them called clips, cuffs, or whimsies, but none of the above seem to match properly.Veled 16:43, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Question on sailors and earrings

"There continued to be a small male following, however, particularly among sailors, where a pierced earlobe often meant that the wearer had sailed around the world or had crossed the equator." I heard that the reason (or one of the reasons) sailors wore earrings was so that, should they drown and their body be washed ashore, the earring could be sold to pay for a funeral. Anyone know if this is true or apocryphal? --Babrahamse 21:38, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

I would not suspect that to be logical or accurate. With his being dead, a funeral would be a dead sailor's last concern. It would be more likely, I think, that the cultural mixture found on an international commercial vessel would just be conducive to the spread of phenomenon that was socially unpopular in Europe. I mean, a ship that sails to North Africa, modern Turkey, and other regions of the Mediterranean would have taken on all sorts of individuals and all sorts of cultural influences, including the influence of cultures that consider piercing appropriate. There's also not going to be a strong push for traditional social propriety (which would bar male ear piercing) on a boat full of sweaty men, so the appeal of a vain distinguishing feature might have spread quickly. Just a few guesses. The funeral bit sounds to me like pretty fantasy and unlikely history. Fearwig 03:02, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I've heard of it for pirates, but not sailors, and it could just be fantasy. --64.131.39.145 (talk) 02:48, 30 December 2007 (UTC)


The tradition is that Sailors who sailed 'round the Horn ( tip of South America ) ( not the equator - thats a differnt tradition) were entitled to wear a single Gold earing in the left ear. Goes back to the Trade and Whaling voyages of the 1800's in square rigged sailboats. It was a difficult and often dangerous passage even on the much more common eastbound passages (with the prevailing winds ). On the left side because that was the side toward land, in an eastbound passage. The earing for the right was either given to (or taken by ) Posiden/Neptune in tribute for safe passage. ( Makeing the passage on a modern cruise liner doesn't count ) Naval vessels or sailing ships only. 24.218.178.149 (talk) 04:54, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed merge

Conch piercing should not be merged here. Whoever added that template should write something here and explain their rationale, rather then let people wonder at whether someone just forgot to take the notice off. Anyway. This article is long enough, and conch piercings are so very different to earlobe piercings, both in technical terms and culturally. Perhaps there could be a centralised page on ear cartiliage piercings, and it could get merged there. --Qirex 13:33, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Ear piercings

"Earring" and ear piercing should be differentiated, with this article left essentially as-is while the latter is adapted to be more like the page for body piercing, outlining in its body the varieties and linking to them individually. There are probably more varieties of piercing for the ear than for any other body part (save the genitals, perhaps), and there's really no reason to merge them all into this deficient (or at least relatively unrelated) article. Consider also the fact that barbells and other sorts of body jewelry aren't really ear "rings" at all--it's just not logical that this article would cover such a broad topic. Fearwig 02:56, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image

I removed Image:Littlegirlearspierced .JPG, because the focus of the shot was on the girl, rather than the earrings. In fact, the earrings are rather hard to see. Joyous | Talk 15:00, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Earring trend did not start in the 20th century

Earrings didn't start becoming a trend in the 20th century. Someone needs to do research and put in the pre-historic/pre-20th century role of earrings.

[edit] Too many images of children

I commented out several recent additional images of children's ears provided by User talk:Belginusanl because this article is about earrings and not children, and the earrings weren't that notable anyway. Earpol 23:10, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] hong kong hip hop culture

Took the entire section out, because it has more to do with hip-hop than earrings, and its quite out of place.


[edit] Healing Over

Should we add a brief mention of whether or not the piercing hole ever completely heals over so there is no hole anymore?? I've often wondered that myself and I think it's a valid piece of information that should be included. --Promus Kaa 01:37, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

  • Oops, sorry, it's already there... --Promus Kaa 01:38, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pirates earpiercing

The reason some sailors and pirates pierce their ears is because a certain part of the ear,when punctured will reduce the thirstiness and hungriness you get from malnutrition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.21.206.245 (talk) 21:50, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] huggy

Huggy earrings seem to essentially be a subcategory of hoop earrings, in which the hoop is significantly wider than the piercing bit, thus appearing to "hug" the earlobe much like ear cuffs.--AaronRosenberg (talk) 03:33, 9 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Laser

Does anyone know if a laser, or something instantly healing, has been used or considered? Maybe I don't know much, but it seems like it would make sense. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.102.224.187 (talk) 03:45, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

It's a very common way to get ear pierced in China (usually offered in hospitals). I really haven't seen it anywhere in the US. 130.126.75.181 (talk) 07:49, 15 January 2008 (UTC)cecikierk

cecikierk: Do you think you can find any information about this and put in the main article? Sounds interesting. Pipatron (talk) 14:20, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
Well, there isn't many "official" documentation on ear piercing with laser, let along in English. Here's an article in Chinese: http://www.ntmrmfw.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=863 cecikierk —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.75.181 (talk) 06:11, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] History

I don't think ear piercing started in the 20's in the US, since the vast majority of Victorian earrings are for pierced ears. --cecikierk —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.126.75.181 (talk) 06:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)