Gay ear pierced

We accepted it as gospel and never questioned its validity. But as I grew up, it seemed like everyone I met, no matter their place of origin, knew and understood the earring code, as arbitrary as it seems. Historically speaking, the truth is more complex, gay ear pierced.

If you are wondering which side is the gay piercing left or right, then, to make a long story short, getting pierced in your right ear meant you were gay. There is a rich history of jewelry being used to show off wealth, nobility, or status. In the 20th century, it was used to show off sexual preference. A man would wear a single earring in his right ear to say he was a gay man. Join us in unpacking this old gay stereotype and ask the question: do we still need it? Since ancient times, people have been getting body piercings to show status or caste.

Gay ear pierced

These days, seldom does a trend stick around for longer than a few weeks before a neologism replaces the one before it, permeating the halls of TikTok or Instagram and causing all of us to second-guess what was once considered mainstream — only to then swap a coveted wardrobe staple for the latest passing fad. Still, certain exceptions prevail. Even today, one of the most unshakeable cultural signifiers has been the "mono" piercing — more precisely, and befuddling, on which ear it's placed and what it says about your sexuality. Pre-Y2K and beyond , it's been socially understood that wearing one earring on the right ear means someone is gay; the left, straight. Despite recent data and celebrities supporting otherwise, the demagogic proverb "Left is right and right is wrong" has been a whisper placed upon gay and straight men and their piercers for decades. No one really seems to know where the adage originated. Or which side means what. It is, however, a uniquely American conundrum. Lyst, a company that tracks online shoppers' behavior, claims searches for men's earrings are up by percent since last year see: Lil Nas X, Jared Leto, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny. No longer is it that big of a deal that a cisgender, occasionally heterosexual man wears jewelry — not even those flashy beaded bracelets.

In other words, if you walk up to a young adult on the street and ask them who they gay ear pierced, they'll probably just tell you. The septum was a representation of me feeling more comfortable with myself and my choices and being who I am.

When the pandemic sent me off campus, I returned to my childhood bedroom full of existential questions about my identity. Nine months later when I came back to campus, I had seven piercings. While home, I considered how I performed for others and how I truly wanted to present. I love to over-accessorize, and piercings allowed me to adorn myself in more ways. As a Depop seller might put it, my ears were an old pair of Y2K jeans just waiting to be bedazzled. Piercings were also a way for me to rebel against the gender binary and heteropatriarchal norms that harshly dictate gender performance and expression. Some people's love language is touch, while others prefer words of affirmation or acts of service.

Sorry, the content of this store can't be seen by a younger audience. Come back when you're older. Have you ever heard the term "gay ear"? When people talked about the gay ear, they referred to a specific ear being pierced on a man. This trend didn't include women in the gay ear fad because, in most Western cultures since the s, it has generally been a cultural norm for females to have their ears pierced. Keep in mind that this performative measure was originally used to discriminate against men based on their perceived social class, not sexuality. Initially, the only men who had pierced ears were usually sailors. But it wasn't until the late s that people attributed a man who had his ear pierced to being gay. Now, men have pierced ears for endless reasons. With piercings no longer serving as any sort of identifier to occupation or sexual orientation, pierced ears are relatively common among all genders.

Gay ear pierced

Sometimes we feel misunderstood, and sometimes we misjudge others. As a result, we might long for a way of putting symbols or signals out there so people can get a sense of who we are at a glance. Yet, one can see the down side of that too. One pitfall of wearing jewelry or other items with clear symbolism is that different people interpret some of these symbols differently. As one example, there is some confusion about the symbolism of a man wearing an earring in the left ear. There were other reasons also. For example, sailors tended toward the single earring as a way to uphold centuries-old superstitions about earrings keeping them from drowning at sea. While women almost always pierce both ears, it was somewhat common for the few men who did wear earrings to wear one in just one ear. In large urban centers, people would just go to gay bars or find other gay people through their network of friends. Trends began to shift, partly due to the advent of MTV in , and straight men increasingly decided to add an earring into their repertoire, making sure to pierce their left ear.

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Piercings have roots in world history as well, with evidence of King Tut having worn earrings. Power Your Happy. In the end the male earring lost its sexual significance altogether, and simply became a generalized way of annoying middle-aged, latter-day puritans. A lot of people don't know why they're dressed the way they are. Undergear, too. The concept of men wearing jewelry is an old one, dating back thousands of years. Terms Privacy Policy. And while it is now clearly understood that a piercing is not a legitimate indicator of sexuality or gender identity, it seems that throughout history, piercings have been linked to queerness in contemporary Western culture. We accepted it as gospel and never questioned its validity. A article in The New York Times perpetuating the stereotype seemed to solidify the historical hearsay as the widely known style taboo many can't quit today. This is a time where there were no legal or social protections for people who were apart of these communities. Despite changing times and modern progress, many people still associate body piercings particularly a single piercing in the earlobe as a symbol of someones sexuality. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".

Last Updated: September 20, Fact Checked. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

From the s to the s facial piercings were uncommon, gay ears or not. He now has a really cool earring in his left ear.. Ear piercings fell out of favor in the s in the USA. No longer is it that big of a deal that a cisgender, occasionally heterosexual man wears jewelry — not even those flashy beaded bracelets. Still, certain exceptions prevail. Beauty Tips. People in these communities would gather together in secret bars, or meet up around trails in local parks after dark, they even used certain forms of code which varied from location to location to subtly tell people they were gay. Per a historian at the oldest maritime history museum in the USA, here in Salem MA, a sailor wore jewelry to communicate with other sailors: a gold loop in the Left ear meant that the sailor had sailed halfway round the world, the Western Hemisphere, had sailed around Cape Horn, so all of North and South America. For so long, piercings also have been that. That is Gen Z at its best: challenging the status quo, releasing age-old narratives, and shutting the door behind them. In other words, if you walk up to a young adult on the street and ask them who they are, they'll probably just tell you. If it were in my right ear, that would mean I was gay.