I think that a couple of piercings are ok like ears and nose and stuff but when people go over the top and get thamselves pierced all over the place or just in stupid places then its just ridiculous. Some people get like 100 different piercings all over the face. I dont get what the point is.. how can anyone like that and do that to themselves. It just looks stupid.
Piercings can look really nice and if you dont want them anymore you can just wait for it to close up again..
I dont think i would ever get a tattoo myself but i suppose small ones ok just as long as their not of something like their girlfriends name because how do they know they are still going to be with them in a couple of years time. Then they will have to pay money to get it removed which could be used for something else.
Everyone knows the risks of doing things like these so its just up to them to make the right decision about it...

I don't have a problem with tattoos and piercings. I don't have any tattoos, but I do have a few piercings, though only in my ears. I never thought about being different when I got them (I have seven) or being the same as anyone. They were just something I wanted so I got them done.

For many people I don't think it's just about being 'different', I think it is about what they want. My sister has tattoos, one of which says something about courage, to remind her not to give in.

Originally Posted by Strawberri Candy

I think that a couple of piercings are ok like ears and nose and stuff but when people go over the top and get thamselves pierced all over the place or just in stupid places then its just ridiculous. Some people get like 100 different piercings all over the face. I dont get what the point is.. how can anyone like that and do that to themselves. It just looks stupid.

Not everyone thinks so, and the fact is...it's kind of addictive. Because of the way the process goes (when it's done RIGHT, with a needle instead of a gun), it actually feels good.

Thing is, there's a period of preparation, like at the doctor's office when they're gonna give you a shot (in fact, I've met people who like shots and whatnot for this same reason, though I'm not one of them - I'm somehow very squeamish about tiny pointy sticky things digging a hole into me AND THEN LEAVING SOME KIND OF CHEMICAL OR PULLING OUT SOME FLUID >___e;;;)...and it gives you a while to think about what's coming, and you get yourself worked up for this BLINDING pain...

Then it happens, and it's practically nothing. It's a rather enlightening feeling, really. That's how some people can get hooked. If you like how they look...odds are, you're gonna end up going back for that feeling unless you have something stopping you.

Me? When I can afford it, I'll probably get a few more ear piercings. Maybe even my eyebrow, though I'm afraid that one would reject on me because my skin is insanely fast and thorough at healing. Just because I like that feeling. Really, appearance-wise, I'm perfectly happy with the nine I've got, but....it's addictive.

I personally have to disagree with you in many levels. I'll skip the long story about the origins of tattoos and piercings, seeing as several other people have already covered that.

I think most tattoos are beautiful. I do find it annoying when I hear of people getting tattoos to be "cool" or because their friends do it. But when a tattoo has personal meaning, then it is beautiful. When a person feels so strongly about something that they have it put into their flesh, then it is something very powerful. I myself am going to get several tattoos once I get the money. Each tattoo I have designed and they all have a very special meaning to me.

Of course piercings can get infected. A paper-cut can get infected! And I really don't see how you can compare a piercing to a bullet wound. I, again, love piercings. I think most are incredibly sexy. At the moment I have several piercings 3 in each lobe: (4g, 6g, 8g), my left helix and a nose ring. I plan on getting more and will love each of them. I love the feeling of getting it done and seeing the new addition to my body. Each piercings becomes a part of me, an extension. My piercings don't define who I am, they just enhance.

If you are going to start a "debate" about something, you should make it an actual debate. Not a personal rant as to why you hate something. And please, do some research, learn some history and maybe you'll understand why some of us do what we do.

I would get a tattoo, but only for a good purpose. Such as someone who was close to me that passed away or someone that I love dearly. Tattooing is not always about stupidity, sometimes it's about purpose and rememberance. If someone was a good part of my life, and passed away, I'd put something on myself through a tattoo to remember the good days we had together. And not all tattoos are awful, some can be just a simple word or a little symbol.

I don't have any piercings, but I would like to get my ears pierced. It's not that I'm doing it for a fashion statement, I may want to look nice with a pair of diamond earrings or something along that nature. Not all piercings are bad, and some piercings are in tribes as well, such as lip gauges(sp?).

I don't think there's anything wrong with them, as long as there is signifigance behind it.

I would love to know why you have such a problem with people who have different tastes than yours. The fact that you yourself don't care for the look of body modification or any other accessory to individuality is not going to change the fact that many other people do. Give it a rest already; not everyone is going to be just like you--and like it or not, that's a good thing.

I feel that if there's something that you want to express badly enough to make your own body the canvas of the message, then I say go for it because it's your expression and not mine. Although doing it with knowing the cons of getting a tattoo or a piercing is better. Admittedly, I don't like it when people get them because their friends were too and make rush decisions. Tattoos are there for quite the while, so you'd better make a good decision about what you want on your skin because fixing "tattoo regret" is expensive. I tend to not like most piercings and tattoos myself but I don't look at the people wearing them in any more of a negative light than if they didn't have them.

And, well, earrings are a common staple of style for a wide range of people. I don't think I can bring myself to dislike them.

Originally Posted by wing_goddess

Piercing is just as bad as putting a bullet through your stomach and putting a pole through it. If that was the new style, would you do it?

...That's not just your earlobe/skin coloring anymore, which I could care less if I messed with it. They'd still function for the most part. That's your stomach, something that I wouldn't ever want to tamper with.

But to answer this question, if it were possible and I felt that it expressed something important to me, but acceptable enough for public, then yes. However, it doesn't mean squat to me and I wouldn't damage myself that badly just for fashion.

Oh, you make me so sad. :no:
You must be one of those "Its my way or the highway" types of people, ne? :sarcasm:
Anyway.

I think tattoos are beautiful works of art. And while I think it is entirely possible to go over the top with them, (I do like some plain skin to show haha.) I love them.
I do tend to look down a bit on people who get tattoos just because their friend was getting one or some stupid reason like that. This is a body modification, and its gonna be there forever unless you fork out the money to get it removed. It needs to have some serious thought put into it.
I myself don't have any tats, but that's just because 1) My mom said I have to be 18 before I permanently alter my body besides ear piercing XD, and 2) I wouldn't have the money anyway.
I do have one designed that I want to get for my 18th birthday though. Its a bar of music notes winding around my left hand like a bracelet, trailing over my hand, and ending on my index finger.
This design has meaning to me-- I love music so much that I'm expressing it on my body for everyone to see.
It has nothing to do with being different, or cute, or "kool". (Which, NEWSFLASH-- that is not a word. :sarcasm:) Its about ME and an extension of MY personality on MY body.
It was the same way with my sister when she got her first and only tattoo. She got a Chinese symbol for "duck" tattooed on her hand, because duck is her favorite animal and one of her nicknames. xD

As for piercings-- I find piercings very attractive. I don't see them as art, like I do tattoos, but I just find them to be hot. xD
Not always do people just get piercings to look different or whatever. I have a fake lip ring (because its all I was allowed) because I have a really bad nervous habit of chewing my bottom lip until I cause it to bleed. When I can taste blood, I stop. Playing with the ring with my tongue and my teeth distracts me when I'm nervous, so I don't chew my lip as much, or as bad. I hope to get a permanent ring as soon as possible. O_O

Some people say "Oh but doesn't all that hurt?" Well, most people I've talked to say it doesn't hurt that bad really, and I like pain to a certain extent, so I am fine with letting my family predict how much I'm going to cry when I get my first piercing, because what they don't know won't hurt them. :sarcasm:

I think the only place where piercings look okay is the traditional earring. Multiple piercings, especially on the nose or tongue, make people look like Amazon tribe members. (Of course, if you are an Amazon, no offense. As for tattoos, nothing is more gross than a wrinkly old tattoo on some old person. Even a "Mom" tattoo doesn't look that cool if it's all wrinkly.

I don't really take into account the argument of "but a tattoo will be all wrinkly when you grow old!" for these reasons:
- People who are so wrinkly it'd ruin a tattoo usually don't wear revealing clothes anymore, so no one will notice the wrinkly tattoo.
- A tattoo with a meaning keeps its meaning, even if it's wrinkled.
- If you get a tattoo around age 20, you'll be able to enjoy it for at least 40 years. After that, people usually don't show off their body anymore so it's not that big of a problem.

wow.
to stereotype people with modifications. now thats a new low. modifications don't necessarily make you a bad person. body modifications are to show the world the way you are on the inside.
so what if billy has guaged ears.. if he keeps them clean, does it honestly affect you?
do MY piercings affect YOU as a person?
the day they start lashing out and attacking you might be the day i get rid of theml lol.
i think its silly in this day and age to discriminate against anyones wishes.
if they want to get 40 tattoos on their back let em!
if they want the nape of their neck pierced, hells yeah!
i don't think its fair to judge people just because they have one or two mods.
hell, i have pink hair,a reaper tattoo on my back, my tongue pierced, and my ears doubled, and i'm planning on getting some more and i have a decent career. not once did anyone decide i was a criminal because of my piercings.

mmm i kinda agree with you. here's my story:

last year, i was a stupid person and self-pierced both my ears with an extra 3 piercings on both ears, meaning i had 4 on both ears.
bad decision.

later i kept re-piercing the 2nd piercing from my ear lobes, voila, i had started to get an infection on those 2. and then those infection had become a Keloid, but my right ear is better than my left ear so the Keliod on my right stopped growing and is only small, but my right ear is bad and it never stopped growing so now, its big and ugly that i dont tie up my hair in public anymore because it is ugly and it had affected my self esteem tremendously.

i still cant accept it today but i will have to in the future because it is going to stay there for the rest of my life and having cosmetic surgery on it will only make it grow even bigger than before.

i now try and let people know that many don't know the bad side of piercings and you never know if it can happen to you.

@Lovers Network - there are ways to get rid of keloids without surgery. I understand that you want to warn people of the risks of piercings, but in all honesty, what happened to your ear could have easily been prevented with proper piercing technique and equipment, and constant thorough cleansing and care of the piercing.

There is generally more risk of infection if you aren't pierced professionally. (And I don't mean Claire's. Piercing guns are a horrible idea and the girls working there are prone to giving out false information on piercing care.) Unless you really know what you're doing, and have the correct (sanitized) equipment, self-piercing is a bad idea. It might be more expensive to go to a shop, but it's worth it in the long run. The only problems I have ever had with my piercings happened when I wasn't caring for them properly.

Here are some tips on how to clean your piercings. I use sea salt soaks for the first few months, and after that I use H2Ocean, which is basically a sea salt soak in an easy to carry spray bottle. In the rare case that I get a bump around a piercing, I dab tea tree oil on it, which essentially dries it out and gets rid of it in a week or so.

Are you sure it's a keloid? Mistaking boils or hypertrophic scarring for keloids is common. If it truly is a keloid, you can try steroid injections, (talk to your dermatologist first!) which work for some people.


Anyway, I love getting pierced, and I am looking forward to getting tattooed when I have the money. None of my piercings have hurt more than getting pinched really hard. But even if they did, I think they would be worth it. I don't think it is attractive when people have a bunch of facial piercings, but hey, some people dig that, so I won't knock them. I like having easily concealed piercings (and tattoos, when the time comes) so that people don't know I have them unless I show or tell them. It's kind of a weird sense of empowerment (call me crazy, I don't get it either.)

I've already posted here once about my views on tattoos and piercings. They don't bother me. However, I was watching Taboo last night, and on next week's episode, they're talking about tattoos again. On it, they're going to show a guy get his eyeball tattooed. I kinda think that's going a little too far. I don't know why someone would risk being blinded to have ink injected into their eye. If you like it and want to risk it though, that's your choice. It does look kind of cool, albeit extremely weird, once done. It's definitely not something I could do, though. I can't even put water in my eye if I have shampoo in it much less have someone poke a needle into it.

Apparently it took 40 injections to turn his eye blue. o_o; That's going a tad too far IMO. I wonder how long it'll take before he goes blind.

Yeah. That's just too risky and really not worth it, in my opinion. The guy who's getting his eye pierced on Taboo is getting his eye pierced black. He's going to be the third person in the world to get his eye tattooed.

I think that is a personal preference. If someone like a lot of piercings and tattoos, then it is their body to do with what they want. I'm not saying it's always pretty to look at someone with piercings all over, but it fills me with a sense of..."Wow."

I have pierced ears, but only one in each. To me, that's okay. Yes, it hurt when I first did it, but if you care for it properly, it won't get infected. And wearing clip on earrings had always caused me much more pain.
I do not have any tattoos, despite having boyfriends who would have liked me to have one. I see a tattoo as a very serious, very permanent thing and I would never get one on a whim. However, I could see myself considering getting one in the case of a serious, life changing event. Like if one of my sisters died, I might get a small tattoo as a way of always her with me. It would be small, it would mean something significant, and it would be in an area that I could see it but that would be covered by my clothing. It wouldn't be for show, it would be just for me.

I don't understand why people go overboard with piercings and tattoos, but to each their own. It is their body and it they want to have it marked up, then that is their choice.

First to Never Know:: Eeek. D:
Kita can't stand having anything near her eyes. ><
-is afraid of eyedrops- XD;

I couldn't even imagine something like that. Well...maybe in a scene from a horror movie. LOL.

LOL. I'm the same way. I can't even wash my eyes out with water if I get shampoo in them. I definitely wouldn't be able to lay there while someone poked a needle into my eye 40 times.

I love tattoos and piercings.
Body mods in general really.
It's a way of expressing yourself.
Tattoos = artwork that's on your body forever~ <3

I have my nose pierced and a couple other things pierced, I think it looks nice.
It's suits me.

Some people do go over board though.
Tattoos from their heads to toes.
That looks kind of unattractive.
And lessens their chances of getting real jobs and so on.

One thing that sucks about tattoos and piercings;
They change the way people view you.

Ok. I agree with you only to a certain extent. I agree that over piercing and tattooing isnt all that cute. Some people can pull it off but others just shouldn't try.
It really is all a matter of opinion. Some people do it to be "unique" but others just may like jewelry, body art, or how it makes them look. If you go to a reliable, sterilized place to get it done, take care of your piercings/tattoos, and are responsible you should be fine.

Well I think you're a bit extremist about tattoos and piercings. I mean I have 2 ear piercings, one on each side, and while I did have a bit of trouble with it being infected, it wasn't anything like a "bullet" though the skin. Are you being a bit melodramatic? Then what's cutting one's nails? Is it like chopping off a body part?:roll:

I do admit piercings on ears that include a hole the size of a large bottle cap is disturbing, but that's a person's personal choice. And they have to live with the decision of it, just like a person with multiple tattoos visible throughout the body won't be getting some corporal job. However, that's that personal decision, and their preference on body image, and I don't see why you have the right to judge just because you don't like it. Well, nobody is forcing you to get one.

I agree with most of the people who have posted. Tatoos can be beautiful. Piercings can be fun. I was 22 when I got my ears pierced for the FIRST time. The lady who was piercing me said "it opens a whole new world of bright shiny things for you to own". She was right. Now? I make jewelry. I don't spend a ton of money buying earrings at $10 a pair. I actually sit down with the tools and make them myself. It makes me feel really good when someone asks me where i got my earrings at and I tell them I made them. Now I agree that some tatoos/piercings are just a little not good for my tastes. I wouldn't approve of someone having sexual organs plastered on their body parts... I would not ever date anyone who had a "jacob's ladder"... but this is my personal preference and I try not to keep people from doing what they want with their body. No one would listen to me even if i told them how it made me feel. So me personally? Tatoos.... one day. I already have my ears pierced. *shruggs* all personal preference man.

I think tattoos and piercings, in moderation, can be a great form of self expression and can be quite attractive. I wish I could pierce my nose without fear of it possibly screwing me over for potential jobs. xD

Tattoos in particular can be very personal, kind of like a way of putting your heart on your sleeve. Literally. 'Cept with your arm. People covered from head to toe in tattoos they pulled off the wall the night they walked into the parlor? ...Yeah. That is, I'm sorry, quite ugly.
(Especially Chinese/Japanese characters; why would you get a character in a language you can't speak just because it's pretty? Silly.)

On Japanese/Chinese characters: I mainly dislike them on people who have no clue of the meaning(s) of those characters. My boyfriend's cousin is half Chinese and he's told me of some hilarious tattoos he has seen.

Many people don't know that one character in Chinese can have a set of VERY different meanings. :XD