# Aretes/Zarcillos/Pendientes/Earrings



## Whisky con ron

A qué edad le ponen pendientes a las niñas en sus países? Normalmente, quiero decir... En mi país es bien temprano, antes de los seis meses. Es igual en España y en el resto de iberoamérica? Me parece que en los países anglosajones es mucho mas tarde, inclusive como a los dieciseis años, y si se le ponen muy pequeñas se ve como mal.

At what age do (baby) girls get their ears pierced in your country? 

Pura curiosidad...


----------



## Fernando

Sadly, in Spain the ears are pierced at an early age. My, ehem, experience limits to my sister's case. She was subjected to this barbarian practice shortly after being born (against my father's opinion).

The excuse is that it does not hurt at that age.

But the sad consequence is that the piercing mania is impressed in their tiny souls and they subsequently make them pierced in bellies, lips, and ...these parts.

Awful, barbarian.

O tempora, O mores.


----------



## Whisky con ron

Eso es lo que quería corroborar. A mí también me los abrieron cuando estaba muy pequeña (y no, no duele nada!).

Y no tengo piercings en ninguna otra parte por los momentos pero, Fernando, a ver qué tienes en contra de una barriguita con un piercing, ah? Es que no te parecen monas?



No, pero aquí donde vivo al parecer se ve MUY MAL que una niña pequeña tenga las orejas perforadas.... Dicen que se ve muy chusma y de mal gusto. Cuando en mi pais es lo contrario, a una bebé sin aretes "le falta como algo". 

El propio culture shock.


----------



## Fernando

Whisky con ron said:
			
		

> Y no tengo piercings en ninguna otra parte por los momentos



I am sooooo glad.



			
				Whisky con ron said:
			
		

> pero, Fernando, a ver qué tienes en contra de una barriguita con un piercing, ah? Es que no te parecen monas?



And god said:

"The body of the woman is perfect. You shaaaaaal not piiiiierce it."


----------



## ILT

Well, in México girls get their ears pierced shortly after getting out of the hospital.  In fact, many parents prefer to do it at the hospital, that way a doctor will do it and there will be nurses and everything, just in case.

I agree with you, a girl without earrings looks like something is missing, another proof that cultures differ!

About Fernando's comment that then the piercing mania is impressed in their tiny souls, I don't think it has to be that way; most, and I mean more than 90% of Mexican girls have had their ears pierced, and the percentaje of girls who pierce anything else when they grow up is still minimum.  Maybe it's because for us it is weird to see a girl without earrings, so it has become like a standard and there's not much tought about it.


----------



## VenusEnvy

I love translating said:
			
		

> I agree with you, a girl without earrings looks like something is missing, another proof that cultures differ!


At the age of about 10, all of my friends had their ears pierced, except for me. They pressured me fr so long to get it done. As soon as I saw the gun that they use, I gasped, and said, "NO!" 

Buuuuuuut, the pressure got to me, so I had it done. Now, I have three holes in each ear.  

Like the others, it's very common here to see babies with pierced ears.


----------



## Fernando

I love translating said:
			
		

> About Fernando's comment that then the piercing mania is impressed in their tiny souls, I don't think it has to be that way;



This is Fernando, apologizing for using irony.


----------



## Mita

En Chile generalmente los ponen al rato después de nacer, aunque hay algunas excepciones. Yo soy una de ésas,  porque (por razones "ajenas a la voluntad" de mis papás ) no me pudieron poner... Pero ahora que soy más grande pienso que en parte tuve suerte, porque me siento bien sin aros. De hecho, creo que nunca me voy a perforar mis orejitas, porque me gusta sentirme diferente (y no por eso menos femenina  ). 

Saludotes,


----------



## GenJen54

I am always shocked when I see small infants with pierced ears. But, as ILoveTranslating said, it is all about the cultural norm. For her, it is odd to see babies _without_ pierced ears. For me, it is odd to see them with it. I guess because ultimately, I think the choice should belong to the child - that when they are old enough to make the decision for themselves, they (and their parents) should decide to have it done.

My parents allowed me to get my ears pierced when I was thirteen. It was kind of like a "rite of passage," a means of turning from a small girl into a teenager. While I thought it unfair at the time that they made me wait ("all of my friends are getting it done"), looking back on it as an adult, I think it quite was quite a neat way to celebrate my becoming a teenager.

If I have a daughter, I will probably "start a tradition" in this way; it will be a rite of passage that a mom and daughter can share.


----------



## Isotta

Ditto. I had to be thirteen. My mother had to be sixteen to have hers pierced, so she thought she was being liberal. 

I kind of wish I had not had it done at all. I have this vanity that I have quite nice ears, and then there are these holes that I had put in them...

Z.


----------



## Amatus

Apart from the possible risks to health that accompany the piercing of a body part (needles infected with AIDS and other frightful diseases) that should be considered, one should also consider that piercings damage.  Kids should be asked as to whether they actually want one, and told of the risks, and if she still wants one, then she should be allowed to have it when she's deemed to be mentally mature and at a reasonably mature age.  For goodness' sake, don't perforate your baby's ear!


----------



## irene.acler

I completely agree with you, Amatus. A baby cannot know nothing about the risks and, to be honest, I don't understant the need to perforate babies' ear when they're so little.


----------



## Etcetera

Whisky con ron said:


> At what age do (baby) girls get their ears pierced in your country?


It depends.
I had my ears pierced when I was about 9, I think. It was around 1995, and my ears were pierced using an American technology, which was brand-new in Russia in these times. My sister's 10, but she still haven't had her ears pierced, unlike most her friends. 
I believe it's unwise to pierce little girl's ears. In my opinion, it's better to wait till the girl can decide whether or not she wants to have her ears pierced.


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Waow... I had never given any thought to this matter.

I mean, here it is so common to have one's ears pierced as a baby, that one does not ever stop and think it over. It is _*really*_ weird to find a baby girl without earrings.

In my country, a mom who doesn't get her baby girl's ears pierced is seen as a strange one, who is not proud of having a girl and does not want to reinforce her femininity. No mom wants that kind of identity problems for her girl, nor that reputation as a mother, right?

Oh, how strangely chauvinist my culture is... 

Besides, doctors say that the best moment to do so is at the eighth day of her life. I have heard it is because K Vitamin -and other elements that help the blood coagulate faster- is more abundant in that day, but don't ask me for the scientific proof of that... So, perhaps by blindly trusting that, and admitting that girls will get their ears pierced anyway later on, I guess moms think: why not get it done at a moment when it hurts less, and your body can take it "smoothly"? 

Now I think it over, it's all kind of stupid, and even barbaric... Thank heavens I'm raising a baby boy...


----------



## Vanda

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Waow... I had never given any thought to this matter.
> 
> I mean, here it is so common to have one's ears pierced as a baby, that one does not ever stop and think it over. It is _*really*_ weird to find a baby girl without earrings.
> 
> In my country, a mom who doesn't get her baby girl's ears pierced is seen as a strange one, who is not proud of having a girl and does not want to reinforce her femininity. No mom wants that kind of identity problems for her girl, nor that reputation as a mother, right?
> 
> Oh, how strangely chauvinist my culture is...


 
No, you are not alone. We do the very same thing in here. I don't think it is a bad thing, though!


----------



## Chaska Ñawi

Here most parents wait until their children can make the choice themselves, and parents who have it done to their babies are subject to a certain amount of disapproval.

My daughter, like GenJen, had her ears pierced as a thirteenth birthday present.  

I, on the other hand, was raised by parents who had grown up in areas where piercing one's ears was considered to be "lower class".  Given this  intense parental opposition, I was twenty by the time a friend pierced them for me ....  thousands of miles beyond their reach, in Bolivia, with a sterilized needle and an ice cube.


----------



## natasha2000

It used to be a custom in Serbia, and it was done by old women, in the country and not by medical or other licenced staff, but nowadays, I think that most of the parents don't do it and leave the "piercing" decision to their kids when they grow up... 
I say kids, and not girls, since for some time, it was fashionable for boys to have one ear pierced, with a tiny hoop or just a little ball. Generally, if you look the whole Serbia, as we are still a little bit too patriarchal, boys with pierced ears are looked upon a little bit "strange", but in big city centers it is nothing new nor scandalous...

PS: Yes, I got mine pierced at the age of about.... 15-16. The first pair of holes. I got the second pair at the age of 23 or something, I can't remember. And at the age of 34 I pierced my belly button.


----------



## Sallyb36

I was about 16, and i was shocked to find that babies get their ears pierced.  There's so much room for problems, not only from infection, but from babies being babies and pulling at the earrings, and falling over etc.  I really don't think that it should be done until the child is older, and can decide for themselves if they want it done or not.  The thing about a mother wanting to deny her daughters femininity if they don't have it done as a baby seems very strange to me, it's not adornments that make a woman a woman.


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Sallyb36 said:


> There's so much room for problems, not only from infection, but from babies being babies and pulling at the earrings, and falling over etc.


Sallyb36, you've just read my mind.

I think an infection is way less probable than "babies being babies", at least where I come from. As I said, I hadn't thought about that matter before bumping into this thread, but by the time I had read, say, 4 or 5 posts in here, I started like: "What if I had a daughter? Would I get her ears pierced?", "What if she pulled an earring and it fell over? She could hurt herself, or even swallow the small, shinny thing", and so on.

Then, it seems kind of crazy that a parent actually exposes a baby to such danger...

But, on the other hand...:


> The thing about a mother wanting to deny her daughters femininity if they don't have it done as a baby seems very strange to me, _it's not adornments that make a woman a woman_


I totally agree with the part in Italics. However, you should take a walk down here to understand the "peer pressure" on that matter. 

Back in -early- elementary school (at the age of 6 or 7, I think), there was a little girl in my class who didn't have her ears pierced. I remember how curious we all were about that: Why doesn't she have her holes? Is she not a girl? Where does she wear her earrings, then? Maybe she just can't, but why? Is she sick, or something? Or is it that she doesn't have a mom, to go get her ears pierced? Así de normal es tener aretes desde pequeña... (Sorry, I can't say that in English, don't know why  )

It might sound weird, but I'm perfectly serious about that! A girl is expected to wear earrings, virtually from birth on. And, we have a saying, "una dama no sale de casa sin zarcillos" --> a lady does not walk out of her house without earrings.


----------



## sdr083

I don't remember exactly when, but at some point my parents told me I could have my ears pierced when they considered me old enough and mature enough to basically understand what I was doing and take care of the whole thing myself (cleaning, infections etc.).  As a child, sometimes would wear stick-on earrings in bright and shiny colours,  and I didn't even want real holes before I was thirteen. When I finally asked if I could do it, my parents let me.  My best friend and I went to the hairdresser together (that's where you go...), and then to the jewellery-shop to buy our first pair of earrings. Many of our friends already had holes, but not all.  Some still don't.  It was never a big deal, and there was no peer-pressure involved.  When I was 21 I decided to get a second pair of holes, and I'm considering a third...
In Norway it is definately not common to have small children's ears pierced, but people are getting used to seing it because so many immigrants do it.  However, if I worked in a place where they do piercings and was asked to pierce a baby's ears I would refuse.  Having your ears pierced is not something you have to do (and many people don't), and the decision should be up to the person the ears belong to!


----------



## Reina140

This is an interesting topic, especially when I think about the possibility of a child pulling their earring out and putting it in their mouth.  I am a complete WORRIER when it comes to children and babies.
I have had my ears pierced for as long as I can remember, so it's also a tradition in my family that the girls get pierced so early, but that boys NEVER get pierced.  The danger never really occurred to me before, but how many times have you ever heard a story about children choking on the earrings or anything like that. I suppose that despite all that has been said, I probably would still pierce a daughter's ears at a very young age.  If when she gets old enough to think for herself and decides she doesn't like them, she can take them out and the hole will simply grow shut.


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Reina140 said:


> The danger never really occurred to me before, but how many times have you ever heard a story about children choking on the earrings or anything like that.


 
Well, that's true.  I thought the same.

But then, this thought struck me: what if my baby gets to be that one in a million?  No, thank you...


----------



## Reina140

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Well, that's true. I thought the same.
> 
> But then, this thought struck me: what if my baby gets to be that one in a million? No, thank you...


 
Good point Sweetie.  And with my luck . . . that would happen to me.


----------

