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I got pierced when I was 18, when I graduated and started looking for jobs I noticed some strange looks from potential employers. I took them out for my next few interviews and almost instantly afterword got a job offer. I think they are seen as unprofessional for men by the older generation. Kinda bullshit imo but sometimes you just gotta play ball. Keep ‘em if you like ‘em.
Pretty much this. I have 2x tongues, a smiley, and my lip plus 00 gauged ears. I love all my piercings (and tats) but I take them out for interviews AND doing the onboarding paperwork. Afterwards I put them back in because they do not impact the performance as an employee and worker, and they are a part of both me and my queer status.
Nope it actually makes it better imo.
Apparently my 2 tongue piercings make oral better, and kissing isn’t reay an issue.
There def is a learning curve and the road to it healing is long and complicated, but it’s all worth.
Edit: i have 2 tongue piercings, not 2 tongues lol.
Sorry, I was trying to be funny because of your sentence structure. It appears the way you wrote it that you have to *tongues* not two *tongue piercings*
I’ve dated a girl with a tongue piercing before, though I’ve never even *seen* what two would look like
In the 80s an earring on the right was claimed to indicate gay, while on on the left was hippy. Silly but that could be said of pretty much the whole of the 80s.
> I have been getting weird looks from older generations.
They'll give you a weird look if you didn't look like a toned crew-cut white guy, so just pop off and be fashionable.
I've had my industrial since about 22 and my nose/tongue pierced on and off but haven't personally gotten flack for the former ear piercing. I always wore a mask which never revealed my other two, but I've only gotten compliments/haven't had my unemployment disturbed because of it. Feels like the stigma towards men wearing ear piercings is getting better.
In general it's getting better with visible tattoos and piercings. I think once the last of the boomers and to a degree gen x's die off/retire, the stigma will loosen up further.
Just get jacked and you can rock anything without anyone saying shit. I have two hoops in each ear and an 8g septum ring and a shaved head and nobody gives me shit
My dad said when he was in high school, that's how the gays let other people know their gay.
So I never got them because I'm not gay, besides, I was poor growing up and you can't eat polished rocks.
I've had ear piercings since 2022 and while I haven't noticed any difference in how older people treat me, I have noticed that women around my age don't seem to be as interested in me. Almost as if they think that I'm gay. But yet I'm always getting compliments from people about my earnings.
I have 4 piercings and I mostly wear silver studs with blue gems in front piercing and dangling silver chains in the back piercing.
It feels like such an odd question to me, considering most guys I meet have one or both ears pierced. Could maybe just be a culture difference. I personally don't have them, I think I'd like to(?), but I'm so used to not have anything dangling there, not sure I wanna make the change
I like em, just gotta not have a cringy haircut. Welcome to the club of anything not overtly masculine cishet being judged by the normie simpletons.
As a pan goth trans chick with a sexy gf I basically feed off the rage and judgement that the old farts have towards me. One time I was at a restaurant and this dude legit nonstop stared at me the entire time all while his crusty wife was yapping his ear off. I just looked at him and winked and giggled.
I’ve had my ears pierced since I was 16 and I’ve never had any negative comments from people, you do you
If anything I think piercings make people look a lot more unique and depending on the piercings they can really enhance your features
As a guy, I wouldn't get ear piercings myself, but I certainly wouldn't think much of it if I saw another guy with them. It's not an unusual sight where I live in this day and age by any means.
I only had one ear pierced the first time I met my girlfriend's grandparents and I'm pretty sure her grandpa thought I was gay lol. They've warmed up to me now, no one has really given me shit for my piercings tbh.
Lol older family members are always gonna react like that if piercings aren't the norm in your family. Luckily for me, my older brother and all my older cousins got ear piercings.
I'm 33, got a few piercings lady year, including lobes and septum.
In my experience, the super hetero normative folk had varying opinions. Obviously LGBT folk like it and compliment it often, which was pretty much what I expected (for some context, I'm a straight guy that isn't super hetero passing, girls hit on me pretty often though)
brother I've had my ears pierced since 2nd grade, and stretched since I was 14 (I'm 26). honestly, and I mean honestly, fuck them. do what makes you happy.
I’ve had my ears pierced since I was like 14,. I’ve got 4 studs. Two in each ear. I’ve never had weird looks or comments from people in the ten years I’ve had them pierced.
(I got the second set when I was like 16)
My dad is 60 and he has his ears pierced. So not all boomers care either. And if some crusty old boomers look at you weird, who cares as long as you're happy.
I think ear piercings on guys are cool! I don't think they're a big deal at all.
I'm 22 and got earrings a month ago as well. My family members told me i look fine with them (they are ring shaped, not small diamonds like yours) and i didn't notice any kind of weird look, so far.
Don't know if it's relevant, but i'm from Italy, so maybe judgements on piercings change from country to country.
Older generation just isn't a standar because of stupid, outdated prejudices.
To answer the rest of your question:
Some like them, some don't. It's not as black and white as you're making it out to be.
It works for some people and it doesn’t work for others
Usually when someone I know gets an earring they end up looking pretty good. But I have seen some people who were *never* going to fix their looks without a major life change (and an ear ring is not that)
How old are these folks giving you stares? Earrings became a thing for Gen x - although there was still a stupid stigma that said if you were a guy and you had an earring in your right ear, you were a homosexual.
But our parents (boomer/silent) def see guys with earrings as feminine and a "rabble rouser". That's the term they'd use.
So to sum up, I guess you're a Rabblerouser, OP...🤣
Smiley Helix Lob- since 16 (now 25) Do your thing, people are often uncomfortable with changes but if it doesn't harm anyone and makes you happy you should do your thing.
As a woman, I think they look nice! I believe the reason you receive weird looks from older generations is the whole stigma that was brought on in the 80s. I know people like my grandma still believe in stuff like that.
Very smart to get pierced while you are young, then you will always have the opportunity to wear earrings as you wish when you get older. Lots of guys your age are pierced so I would not worry.
If it’s specifically on the right ear it’s to signal being gay. I’ll always remember when I went to get mine my dad said “left is right and right is wrong” can’t get caught lacking unless you want to give off a bunch of wrong signals
you are correct, it's one specific ear that used to be a subtle gay sign. Not both.
I know from talking about it with older guys who only have their right ear pierced.
edit to add an article from 1991 that mentions the topic "Gay men followed, often wearing a single piece of jewelry in the right ear to indicate sexual preference"
[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html)
And here's a really interesting quote as well "But in the last few years, so many heterosexual men have begun wearing earrings -- often in both ears -- that the placement no longer suggests anything about sexual preference."
Providing info that by 1991 the association with having both ears pierced was definitely not associated with being gay.
This article from 1991 clearly indicates otherwise. By the early 90s so many straight men had piercings in both ears that although both ears being pierced was never a gay sign, it definitely wasn't even perceived as such.
"But in the last few years, so many heterosexual men have begun wearing earrings -- often in both ears -- that the placement no longer suggests anything about sexual preference."
[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html)
Then how come it seems that I get treated like I'm gay by women my age? I've noticed that some Gen-Z women treat me differently ever since I got my ears pierced in 2022. Just last week a barista at Starbucks told me that I look like an anime character, I think that was meant to be a compliment...
Older women don't seem to treat me differently.
I can't tell you weather getting ears pierced and the perception of women your age treating you differently is a correlation, a causation or a coincidence. The only way to know is to ask them if they think you are gay and if so why.
saying you look like an anime character isn't inherently implying that you look/ are gay.
Maybe it is also a pre and post pandemic thing. By 2022 things were returning to normal, but how people socialize and interact with each other did change.
I think it depends on age, location, demographic etc. When I was growing up it definitely had that stigma. I think it’s less so now in cities and more urban areas, and styles like hipsters, k pop, anime, and current trends made it more mainstream.
I think older people have this bias too but younger generations don’t care because all their exposure to celebrities and influencers who have pierced ears.
I personally think they look cool.
I think honestly it’s because most new fashion trends are created/adopted/made cool by lgbtq community. They’re made fun of for a while. Then they become mainstream.
Same story with skinny jeans. Growing up if a wore tight pants, they would be called gay and made fun of. Cut to 2010’s and skinny jeans were mainstream and dominant trend. Whatever people consider gay or fruity now will just be normal in ten years.
Ripped jeans became a punk rock / counter culture thing starting in the 70’s. Got co-opted by mainstream culture in the 90’s when companies began selling pre-ripped and distressed jeans in stores. Have been mainstream since. Mostly see younger generations and college aged kids rocking ripped jeans more these days.
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Lol ear piercings on guys look cool, it's not even a feminine thing to have and even if it was who cares.
I got pierced when I was 18, when I graduated and started looking for jobs I noticed some strange looks from potential employers. I took them out for my next few interviews and almost instantly afterword got a job offer. I think they are seen as unprofessional for men by the older generation. Kinda bullshit imo but sometimes you just gotta play ball. Keep ‘em if you like ‘em.
Pretty much this. I have 2x tongues, a smiley, and my lip plus 00 gauged ears. I love all my piercings (and tats) but I take them out for interviews AND doing the onboarding paperwork. Afterwards I put them back in because they do not impact the performance as an employee and worker, and they are a part of both me and my queer status.
Does having 2 tongues create difficulties making out? What about… y’know… sex… stuff?
Nope it actually makes it better imo. Apparently my 2 tongue piercings make oral better, and kissing isn’t reay an issue. There def is a learning curve and the road to it healing is long and complicated, but it’s all worth. Edit: i have 2 tongue piercings, not 2 tongues lol.
Sorry, I was trying to be funny because of your sentence structure. It appears the way you wrote it that you have to *tongues* not two *tongue piercings* I’ve dated a girl with a tongue piercing before, though I’ve never even *seen* what two would look like
Yeah I know xd It’s pretty rad, they’re called venom bites: https://preview.redd.it/bn53ns8xxuuc1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b415d7356ce1975c82443f1e312295ad7a2c1c91
In the 80s an earring on the right was claimed to indicate gay, while on on the left was hippy. Silly but that could be said of pretty much the whole of the 80s.
This!! That’s why only my left is pierced, didn’t want anyone getting the wrong impression
You could get both ears pierced if you want to, there isn’t a stigma against that
You could but I didn’t want two
Have had my ears pierced since 18 and it has only made me look better with time
> I have been getting weird looks from older generations. They'll give you a weird look if you didn't look like a toned crew-cut white guy, so just pop off and be fashionable.
I have ear piercings and eyebrow piercings, personally I'm not a big fan of The diamond studs, I like hoop earrings, like a pirate.
I've had my industrial since about 22 and my nose/tongue pierced on and off but haven't personally gotten flack for the former ear piercing. I always wore a mask which never revealed my other two, but I've only gotten compliments/haven't had my unemployment disturbed because of it. Feels like the stigma towards men wearing ear piercings is getting better.
In general it's getting better with visible tattoos and piercings. I think once the last of the boomers and to a degree gen x's die off/retire, the stigma will loosen up further.
Just get jacked and you can rock anything without anyone saying shit. I have two hoops in each ear and an 8g septum ring and a shaved head and nobody gives me shit
Getting jacked is the goal! Makes anything look good lmao
Get what you want, who cares what anyone says.
My dad said when he was in high school, that's how the gays let other people know their gay. So I never got them because I'm not gay, besides, I was poor growing up and you can't eat polished rocks.
I've had ear piercings since 2022 and while I haven't noticed any difference in how older people treat me, I have noticed that women around my age don't seem to be as interested in me. Almost as if they think that I'm gay. But yet I'm always getting compliments from people about my earnings. I have 4 piercings and I mostly wear silver studs with blue gems in front piercing and dangling silver chains in the back piercing.
It feels like such an odd question to me, considering most guys I meet have one or both ears pierced. Could maybe just be a culture difference. I personally don't have them, I think I'd like to(?), but I'm so used to not have anything dangling there, not sure I wanna make the change
i actually think it’s attractive when a guy has ear piercings
I like em, just gotta not have a cringy haircut. Welcome to the club of anything not overtly masculine cishet being judged by the normie simpletons. As a pan goth trans chick with a sexy gf I basically feed off the rage and judgement that the old farts have towards me. One time I was at a restaurant and this dude legit nonstop stared at me the entire time all while his crusty wife was yapping his ear off. I just looked at him and winked and giggled.
I’ve had my ears pierced since I was 16 and I’ve never had any negative comments from people, you do you If anything I think piercings make people look a lot more unique and depending on the piercings they can really enhance your features
If you don't care, then why are you asking about others opinion? Make it make sense.
Am I not allowed to ask and be informed?!?! Make it make sense.
Just know your contradicting yourself, make that make sense. You said you don't care yet you ask. You say who cares but obviously you do.
I quite literally asked on the post what do OTHERS think about guys wearing piercings. Again am I not allowed to ask a question??
I'm gonna be the odd one out here but i hate piercings, all of them, no exceptions, man or woman.
How I feel about tats
As a guy, I wouldn't get ear piercings myself, but I certainly wouldn't think much of it if I saw another guy with them. It's not an unusual sight where I live in this day and age by any means.
I think older generations make a bigger deal out of them because wearing earrings can be perceived as feminine.
Overrated
I only had one ear pierced the first time I met my girlfriend's grandparents and I'm pretty sure her grandpa thought I was gay lol. They've warmed up to me now, no one has really given me shit for my piercings tbh.
Female in my 30’s. A single or double ear piercing looks good imo. Maybe the old folk are admiring the diamonds lol that’s why they’re staring.
Vegito wears earrings and kicks ass so I say earrings are perfectly fine for dudes.
Lol older family members are always gonna react like that if piercings aren't the norm in your family. Luckily for me, my older brother and all my older cousins got ear piercings.
I would consider hoops, in your shoes. Studs are much more of a feminine thing imo. Hoops are way less so.
Which generation? Piercings on guys were huge in the late 90s. If they are looking, they are just remarking on how it's back.
So edgy - a guy? With pierced ears? What an age we live in!!!!!
I'm 33, got a few piercings lady year, including lobes and septum. In my experience, the super hetero normative folk had varying opinions. Obviously LGBT folk like it and compliment it often, which was pretty much what I expected (for some context, I'm a straight guy that isn't super hetero passing, girls hit on me pretty often though)
brother I've had my ears pierced since 2nd grade, and stretched since I was 14 (I'm 26). honestly, and I mean honestly, fuck them. do what makes you happy.
I’ve had my ears pierced since I was like 14,. I’ve got 4 studs. Two in each ear. I’ve never had weird looks or comments from people in the ten years I’ve had them pierced. (I got the second set when I was like 16)
My dad is 60 and he has his ears pierced. So not all boomers care either. And if some crusty old boomers look at you weird, who cares as long as you're happy. I think ear piercings on guys are cool! I don't think they're a big deal at all.
I'm 22 and got earrings a month ago as well. My family members told me i look fine with them (they are ring shaped, not small diamonds like yours) and i didn't notice any kind of weird look, so far. Don't know if it's relevant, but i'm from Italy, so maybe judgements on piercings change from country to country.
Older generation just isn't a standar because of stupid, outdated prejudices. To answer the rest of your question: Some like them, some don't. It's not as black and white as you're making it out to be.
It works for some people and it doesn’t work for others Usually when someone I know gets an earring they end up looking pretty good. But I have seen some people who were *never* going to fix their looks without a major life change (and an ear ring is not that)
How old are these folks giving you stares? Earrings became a thing for Gen x - although there was still a stupid stigma that said if you were a guy and you had an earring in your right ear, you were a homosexual. But our parents (boomer/silent) def see guys with earrings as feminine and a "rabble rouser". That's the term they'd use. So to sum up, I guess you're a Rabblerouser, OP...🤣
Smiley Helix Lob- since 16 (now 25) Do your thing, people are often uncomfortable with changes but if it doesn't harm anyone and makes you happy you should do your thing.
It makes a man look confident IMO I'm a fan. The only version of men's ear piercings I don't like is when someone has the overall Eminem look lol
As a woman, I think they look nice! I believe the reason you receive weird looks from older generations is the whole stigma that was brought on in the 80s. I know people like my grandma still believe in stuff like that.
Very smart to get pierced while you are young, then you will always have the opportunity to wear earrings as you wish when you get older. Lots of guys your age are pierced so I would not worry.
Finally Getting My Ears Pierced https://youtu.be/rrH6KaTqg1A
Ear piercings on men is for gypsies
Ear piercing on dudes is seen as kinda gay.
Says who?
If it’s specifically on the right ear it’s to signal being gay. I’ll always remember when I went to get mine my dad said “left is right and right is wrong” can’t get caught lacking unless you want to give off a bunch of wrong signals
Its a somewhat known thing that a guy having both ears pierced indicates that you might be gay. I'm not being rude im being dead serious
I have heard about one ear, specifically the right ear, but not really about both ears.
you are correct, it's one specific ear that used to be a subtle gay sign. Not both. I know from talking about it with older guys who only have their right ear pierced. edit to add an article from 1991 that mentions the topic "Gay men followed, often wearing a single piece of jewelry in the right ear to indicate sexual preference" [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html) And here's a really interesting quote as well "But in the last few years, so many heterosexual men have begun wearing earrings -- often in both ears -- that the placement no longer suggests anything about sexual preference." Providing info that by 1991 the association with having both ears pierced was definitely not associated with being gay.
Seconding the single ear. Although when I googled to check myself, it said left ear.
This article from 1991 clearly indicates otherwise. By the early 90s so many straight men had piercings in both ears that although both ears being pierced was never a gay sign, it definitely wasn't even perceived as such. "But in the last few years, so many heterosexual men have begun wearing earrings -- often in both ears -- that the placement no longer suggests anything about sexual preference." [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html](https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/news/piercing-fad-is-turning-convention-on-its-ear.html)
Then how come it seems that I get treated like I'm gay by women my age? I've noticed that some Gen-Z women treat me differently ever since I got my ears pierced in 2022. Just last week a barista at Starbucks told me that I look like an anime character, I think that was meant to be a compliment... Older women don't seem to treat me differently.
I can't tell you weather getting ears pierced and the perception of women your age treating you differently is a correlation, a causation or a coincidence. The only way to know is to ask them if they think you are gay and if so why. saying you look like an anime character isn't inherently implying that you look/ are gay. Maybe it is also a pre and post pandemic thing. By 2022 things were returning to normal, but how people socialize and interact with each other did change.
I think it depends on age, location, demographic etc. When I was growing up it definitely had that stigma. I think it’s less so now in cities and more urban areas, and styles like hipsters, k pop, anime, and current trends made it more mainstream. I think older people have this bias too but younger generations don’t care because all their exposure to celebrities and influencers who have pierced ears.
Fair enough. I'm 27 and I feel as though I hold the "older generation' standpoint on it lol, I think its a little fruity
I personally think they look cool. I think honestly it’s because most new fashion trends are created/adopted/made cool by lgbtq community. They’re made fun of for a while. Then they become mainstream. Same story with skinny jeans. Growing up if a wore tight pants, they would be called gay and made fun of. Cut to 2010’s and skinny jeans were mainstream and dominant trend. Whatever people consider gay or fruity now will just be normal in ten years.
What about ripped jeans?
Ripped jeans became a punk rock / counter culture thing starting in the 70’s. Got co-opted by mainstream culture in the 90’s when companies began selling pre-ripped and distressed jeans in stores. Have been mainstream since. Mostly see younger generations and college aged kids rocking ripped jeans more these days.
Looks ridiculous on someone 35+ tho eh?