Are Body Piercings Socially Acceptable? People with oral and facial piercings often have to either wear clear or flesh-tone piercing retainers at work or take jobs at places where piercings are accepted and even encouraged--establishments in the fashion and art industries, like tattoo and piercing shops, graphic design studios, edgy clothing stores like Hot Topic, and even hair salons. There are definitely places where highly-pierced people can find good jobs without having to sacrifice their individuality (Painful Pleasures being one of them), but the majority of professional environments continue to discourage visible piercings despite their prevalence in pop culture today. Public Perception of Piercing There are other facets of piercing besides adornment that aren't widely understood or embraced yet, but that are growing in popularity. Take piercing play, for instance, where lovers may attach weights to permanent piercings, send a charge through them with an electronic stimulation device, or gently twist or tug them (particularly nipple and genital piercings) to arouse each other sexually. Play piercing has been popular in American subculture for some time, but it's only beginning to gain mainstream attention and interest. In the wake of hot sellers like 50 Shades of Gray and other fictional stories in the same vein, everyday people have been aroused to seek more information about S&M and everything kinky. There's a ripe audience now for books like Play Piercing by Deborah Addington that are making information about piercing play more widely available to the public. Needle play is another subset of piercing that hasn't gone mainstream yet and that may never be widely accepted, since so many people have an aversion to needles. Needle play involves giving a partner temporary piercings with very fine-gauge needles to create intricate designs and/or to stimulate them sexually. Hypodermic needles in the 20g - 27g size range are often the preferred tool used in needle play, although other types of smaller gauge needles may be used. Hypodermic needles are preferable because each one has a plastic hub on one end that makes it easier to manipulate these finer, more flexible needles; plus, the colorful hubs contribute to play piercing designs like the heart shown to the left. Once play piercing needles have been inserted in a partner's flesh, they can be manipulated using anything from ice cubes passed over the needles to create a spine-chilling effect to electronic stimulation devices that send a charge through the needles upon contact to dental floss carefully woven through the needles and gently pulled. If you're intrigued by this concept and want to learn more about needle play and play piercings, check out our Guide to Needle Play article and our Needle Play Tips blog post. The Future of Piercing Some feel that the surge of popularity of piercings and tattoos in the mainstream is just a fad--another trend that will cycle itself right out of fashion in short order. If you look at the history of tattoos and piercings, though, you'll see that these forms of body modification have prevailed throughout the history of mankind. Some of the oldest preserved bodies found were adorned with piercings and tattoos, which means that these forms of body modification have been around for thousands of years. They've been popular in diverse cultures around the globe throughout time, and with that kind of history, it's highly unlikely that tattoos and piercings will ever fade completely from our culture. Men and women alike have an innate need to enhance themselves--to be as beautiful, special, and appealing to others as possible--and they do so by modifying their bodies in many ways, not just with tattoos and piercings. People dye their hair, get haircuts, whiten their teeth, have their nails trimmed and polished, augment their natural features with plastic surgery, wear makeup, exercise to get or stay in shape, buy fashionable clothes, and modify themselves in numerous other ways. The desire to be special and unique is inherent in all of us; we just choose different ways to express it, and those forms of self-expression will likely continue to involve tattoos and piercings for generations to come. Learn More About Piercing If you're interested in learning more about piercing, we cover nearly every aspect of this art in our blog posts. This completely free library contains a wealth of information about everything body mod-related where you can read about anything from piercing aftercare to extreme piercings to how to choose a piercer and more. We also offer articles specifically for industry professionals, like The New Piercer's Guide to Getting Started and Piercing Safely. In addition to the free piercing resources we offer, we carry a variety of educational piercing books and DVDs. Piercers will also find all the tools they need to practice their craft on Painfulpleasures.com, including piercing needles, piercing tools and other piercing supplies.
