It can be a big dilemma when your little girl wants her ears pierced. But what do you do when your son asks to have his ears pierced? Little boys … with earrings! Are we ready for that? Apparently this is something boys are asking for at a younger age. Maybe it's a trickle-down influence from pirate Jack Sparrow — or maybe it's some other cultural phenomenon we parents are totally clueless about. But it's bound to throw even the most open-minded parent. My friend's 9-year-old son recently asked to have his ears pierced, and this is how she handled it.
Linda wasn't that surprised because her son likes to "adorn" himself anyway. He wears rings on his fingers and sometimes a necklace or two. Still, when Z asked for earrings, she wanted to think about it, and she wanted him to think about it as well.
When she and her husband talked it over, they came to the conclusion that if their son really wanted his ears pierced, it would just be fair to say yes. Why? Because his sister's ears are pierced. Why enforce a double standard for ear-piercing?
Linda's daughter had her ears pierced, for cultural reasons, when she was 4 years old. And she loves her earrings. Gender equality is important to this whole family. So Linda is letting Z sit with the idea for a while. "If he asked again, we wouldn't hold him back if that's what he wanted to do."
It helps that they home-school, so Z isn't likely to get harassed by other kids or teachers. The important thing is that their son give the idea some serious thought, first. They're not making this decision on a whim.
I think that's pretty reasonable. I hadn't thought of it that way before — if you're willing to pierce a girl's ears, you should be willing to pierce your son's as well, if they want it. And who knows — maybe this will become fairly commonplace in a few years.
What would you say if your young son asked to have his ears pierced?
Image via Finoa Henderson/Flickr
