Parents Who Pierce Their Baby’s Ears Are Just Plain Cruel

Earlier this morning, I came across a discussion over the argument of whether or not to pierce a baby's ears. A disgruntled reader wrote to the Dear Mary Ann column at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette voicing her opinion on the issue — she thinks it's borderline child abuse.

And you know what? I think I have to agree with her on this one. Because piercing a baby girl's ears not only seems mean and cruel to me — it also just seems so vain and unnecessary.

Here you have this perfect little angel who is sugar and spice and everything nice — and you want to go pierce two tiny holes through her earlobes and cause her pain simply because you think she'll look cute in a pair of heart-shaped studs?

Yes, I know putting it that way sounds a little bit extreme, but it's a pretty accurate description. 

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My mother took me to get my ears pierced when I was in the fourth grade, I believe — and I still remember how bad it hurt when that piercing gun went through my skin. And I also remember what a pain it was to keep my earlobes clean and to turn the earrings every day so the holes wouldn't close up.

If it was that bad for a fourth grader (who willingly got her ears pierced), I can't even imagine what a drag having pierced ears must be for a baby.

And that brings us to the whole problem of ear pulling. Aren't parents afraid that their poor baby girls are going to reach up to itch the fresh wounds on their earlobes — only to accidentally pull out the earring and hurt themselves further in the process? (It could happen.) Or what if they get infected?

More from The Stir*:* There's NOTHING Cruel About Piercing My Baby's Ears

I know it's fun to have a little girl and dress her up and all that, but piercing her ears before she even knows how to stand up just seems so ridiculous to me, in addition to being pretty inhumane.

Heck, it's bad enough when we have to take our babies to the doctor to get a shot, and that's necessary for their health. Why on earth would ANY parent subject their little one to having needles stuck in her for the sake of vanity?

What do you think? Is it wrong to pierce a baby's ears?

Image via yoshimov/Flickr