What side ear piercing means youre gay
Your ear candy carries a surprising amount of controversy. Let’s unpack the debate: Which ear is the gay ear?
Nowadays, there are more people with piercings than without, as Statista’s data indicates that over half of the U.S. population have at least their earlobes pierced. Earrings have evolved into influential symbols of style and self-expression, allowing individuals to convey their personality through jewelry choices and piercing placement. However, earrings include also sparked debates over sexual identity, such as the concept of which ear is the queer ear, leading to stigmas over the left and right piercing. For many, this debate has added an extra layer of doubt to a easy fashion choice, opening up broader conversations about persona, expression, and acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community.
Let’s unravel the complicated layers of the “gay pierced earring,” and where this controversial idea of which ear is the gay ear stands today.
American Jewelry: How Pierced Ears Became Mainstream
Earrings gained prominence in the 1920s, with clip-on earrings becoming a sign of wealth and sophistication. However, physical ear piercings remained relatively uncommon and often c
Why Did We Grow Up Thinking a Piercing in the Right Ear Was Gay?
On the playground, it was a truth so firmly established that defying it meant social suicide: If you have an earring in your right ear, it means you’re gay. We accepted it as gospel and never questioned its validity.
It may have been the subtle homophobia of my Illinois community in the ’90s. But as I grew up, it seemed prefer everyone I met, no matter their place of origin, knew and understood the earring code, as arbitrary as it seems.
It was even solidified in the New York Times: A 1991 report said gay men “often [wore] a single piece of jewelry in the right ear to indicate sexual preference.” In 2009, the Times covered it yet again, in TMagazine: “the rule of thumb has always been that the right ear is the gay one,” the writer wrote about his control piercing journey.
Historically speaking, the truth is more complex. Earrings on guys own signified many things over the years, such as social stature or religious affiliation. In his book The Naked Man: A Learn of the Male Body, Desmond Morris explains that earrings have indicated wisdom and compassion in the stretched earlobes of the Buddha, while pirat
Dispelling Myths About Piercing Placement & Sexuality
Every piercing shop in downtown Toronto hears thousands of customers question every year, “is there a gay side for piercings?” Regardless of why they’re asking our respond is plain and easy, piercing location does not indicate your sexuality. Only you can do that.
We understand that there are all sorts of reasons people ask. Some people want to announce their sexual orientation to the world, others don’t wish to misconstrue their image. Still, many piercers may seem annoyed if you ask. And the reason is simple, this rumour has persisted for a long time and portrays piercings as something they are not.
This myth has been limiting for many people in their preference of piercing, and it seems to have sprung from a time when people were less accepting of other people’s sexuality.
Where Did This Myth Enter From?
In a time when society was less accepting of LGBTQ+ culture, people believed that LGBTQ+ people used code to point out their sexual orientation to each other. Most commonly this was associated with ear, eyebrow, or nose piercings.
It’s hard to be sure if this was true as it was just as common for people to claim it was th
Right=GAY
Left=Straight
Both=Normal
Male #2- "WHAT?! Dude, that's the gay ear!"
Male #1- "I know that."
Male #2- ...*slowly walks away*...
Male #1- NO WAIT COME Support. I LOVE YOU!!!!
Person 2: bro that’s the gay ear, you know that right?
Person 1: I thought you knew I was gay? Why else would I pierce my right ear only?
Person 2: oh… I did not. Welp.. good for you, see ya around.
Person 1: wait can I get your #?
Person 2: ummm…. try Grindr I’m straight sorry.
Right ear, right queer?
David Babby explores the mystical and idiosyncratic world of piercing etiquette.
On a particularly grey, drizzly Saturday morning my friend set off to get her ear pierced. The decision had been made the bedtime before amidst several other similarly thoughtful lifestyle alterations.
The money had been counted out. Assist had been garnered. After much intense discussion, the prettier nostril was identified and noted.
I was a bit behind and arrived just as my buddy was being steer in to a back room. The woman in ask for of her had a good limited piercings, which was reassuring, and there was a crumpled bag of Meanies in the bin which showed that this was a fun place to work.
“So,” I said, leaning against the door, “Which nostril is the gay nostril?” To be honest, I thought I’d been post-gay hilarious, but piercing lady was not much impressed. “There is none,” she said drily and reached for her marker.
What I had not realised at the time was that my friend’s sister had already asked the same scrutinize before I’d got there and got a considerably terser response along the lines of: “That is ignorance. There is no queer nostril. If you are gay, your whole nose is ga