Body Piercing I grew up in a pretty conservative household and, although I thought that I had overcome some of the biases of my youth, I was pretty surprised by my reactions when I first came into contact with body piercing. I had been raised in a very Christian community, so the only things you ever saw pierced were people's ears – and only the women pierced those. When I moved off to San Francisco to get a little bit of distance from my upbringing and explore the world little bit, I was suddenly confronted by an array of body jewelry. I saw lip piercings, navel piercings, tongue piercings – everywhere I looked I saw piece of metal through a part of the body that it hadn't even occurred to me could be pierced. At first I was a little bit shocked by the body piercing. I was actually sort of surprised at myself, because I had always considered myself to be pretty liberal. Nonetheless, actually coming face-to-face with that body jewelery made me realize that I was still more conservative than I would like to be. I knew I had a lot of growing up to do, but at the same time I could not overcome my revulsion right away. Nonetheless, eventually that revulsion gave way to intrigue. I started wondering what it would be like to have my body pierced. I couldn't figure out what to start with. Part of me wanted to just start by piercing my ears – something that was forbidden to me anyway. Another part of me thought that an eyebrow piercing would look good on me. I also thought about a lip ring, but decided that was a little bit too extreme. It was so strange looking and in your face, pardon the pun. I ended up starting off by getting my nose pierced. It was really painful, but it was also sort of thrilling. To modify my body, I felt like I had done something that I could not go back on. Body piercing can be addictive and, sooner than I expected, I wanted another one. I did my tongue next and then one of my ears. I really caught the fever. I slowed down recently, but at this point I have more than 30 different body piercings. I scandalized and shocked my parents more than a little bit, but they have gotten over it, and do not even talk about it any more. It just goes to show you that you never know what you'll like until you try it. Sometimes, we find obsessions in the strangest places. Summary Body piercing is still considered taboo by many conservative people. There are those who eventually do try a piercing for a change or to alter their look. Some piercings are more extreme than others. Choose wisely if you are considering adding a new piercing and always select good quality jewelry. Related Articles Caring For Nose Piercing More On Body Piercing Body Jewelry Safety Related Sites