Passion for Piercings

 

By Caleb Dennis, staff writer | Journalism major

Piercings are a form of expression, but as junior sociology major Alicia Guzman noticed, many people see her as somewhat of a ‘deviant’ because of them. However, she sees piercings as a way of showing creativity. “It is a way of showing my artistic side,” Guzman said.

For senior English major Oscar Maria, his gauges have a very similar effect.  “Anything can be art,” said Maria. “[Piercings] are really just a subtopic of the tattoo culture, and they show the inner appreciation for art.”

James Wisniewski, who has been piercing professionally for seven years now, claims that it’s hard to know what the next big thing is. He has been working at Body Electric Tattoo for the last five years, a trendy tattoo and piercing shop that is located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, Calif.

“It changes all the time,” said Wisniewski. “Some go up in popularity one week, and the next, go down.”

He believes that sometimes people get a piercing because they see it on a celebrity, but often because it’s a form of personal expression.

He definitely does recommend putting real consideration into what you get. Even a piercing has the power to limit you professionally and in the job hunt. “Most still don’t comply with many workplaces’ standards,” Wisniewski said.

For those willing to go under the piercing gun, whether for artistic reasons or mere expression, here’s a look at two of the latest trends:

Dermal Piercing

This piercing is not for the faint-hearted. Usually, this piercing takes a few weeks to heal. But if you can withstand the pain for the visual effect, it could be worthwhile. Essentially, it is a little metal dot that only goes through one part of the skin. From there, an anchor is inserted into the skin and the little metal dot is screwed around it.

Guzman has one of these placed on her right cheekbone. For her, the healing process was fast and didn’t cause many problems. Already having her belly button and ears pierced, she was looking for something that was different yet had minimal scarring.

One of her favorite parts of the piercing is that people make better eye contact.  “Since having it done, people just make better eye contact with me,” said Guzman. “I don’t know if this is because they are looking at my piercing, but at least it makes me think they give better eye contact.”

Gauging

Gauging, also known as stretching, is a popular piercing in modern culture Usually, most people start with a piercing slightly bigger than your standard ear piercing at one millimeter. They then stretch them from there through the insertion of a cone-shaped rod. The rod size continues to increase. Sizes can range from the size of an M&M to the size of a quarter.

Maria is in love with the look that his gauges provide. He was never a fan of the standard ring or stud. He started at a 6G, double the size of the standard piercing hole, and built his way up to have half an inch, or about the size of a nickel. His ideal size was something he could put his fingers through.

Maria was in substantial pain at first, but loved the look as it “expresses his love for the hardcore/punk [music] scene.” To him, gauges are the equivalent of an old school mohawk.