Susan's Place Transgender Resources

So I've been told plenty of times over that I should get my ears pierced, since I could pull it off. I do want my ears pierced; in fact, I want to get them to small gauges, maybe a gauge 8 or 6. I'm pretty sure the parentals would see this as me "coming around to my feminimity(sp?)" and not give me a hard time about it, since the concept of guys with earrings has not reached them yet. However, I'm just worried that it will alter how I'm seen gender-wise to the rest of the world, since right now I float at 60% male when you can see my hair, I'm afraid earrings would tip the scale off to the other direction.

Not that I'd be wearing particularly girly earrings. Cheap silver studs, swirls, pinchers/plugs when I stretch them, or those Cs with points at the ends. Maybe tapers, but I've never seen a guy wearing tapers, so I don't know how well that would go down. But none of that ridiculous dangly stuff.

I'm just not sure whether my face alone is masculine enough to make up for earrings, and whether the risk is worth it. Any advice/opinions?

One of my boyfriends in highschool had a piercing through the top of his ear. Maybe you could try one or two up there, I see them on guys all the time and it never seems unmanly or anything. I think though that maybe a big part of it is whether the piercings are symetrical. If you've got only one ear pirced it might work better than having matching sets on both?

I was a pincushion in highschool, so the best advice I could give would be to get them done at a high class place with a very sterile and proffessional looking work area. I had a few done at a seedy place once and they were all crooked and infected after a week or two.

-Birdie

Eh, anything besides lobe piercings would not get past the parentals and neither would one piercing. I don't really want just one ear either, it looks funny in my opinion. Don't really like any other piercings either, at least, not on me.

But yeah, I'd go get them done at Claire's or some store. I dunno. I think Hot Topic does it too?

Quote from: freespeechz on March 03, 2009, 08:26:30 PM
But yeah, I'd go get them done at Claire's or some store. I dunno. I think Hot Topic does it too?

terrible idea.

o-0 Swrong with getting it done there?

Personally, I think earrings are feminizing, even on dudes.  If you are attempting to look masculine, i'd advise against getting pierced now. 

If you're just wanting to get the standard piercing (18/20g, can't remember which) to start, I think Claire's is ok. Hell, I got mine done at Walmart. If you want anything bigger though, I'd say go to a piercer and get it done with a needle, not a gun.

Nowadays everyone has their ears pierced. I think it's becoming less and less of a "girl" thing. Especially if it's the bigger gauged ones. Just remember that if you get them too big, they don't go back very well. As long as you avoid the girly earrings with the rhinestones and whatnot, I think with your face you can pull it off. If you look online, you can often find plugs, swirls, and things like that even in smaller gauges.

Quote from: freespeechz on March 03, 2009, 08:38:30 PM
o-0 Swrong with getting it done there?

didn't mean to offend or anything, hope it wasn't taken that way.
as someone who is heavily into modification -- those places really aren't ideal for getting a piercing.
and while i realize you're only looking at a simple earlobe piercing, they're still iffy (for lack of better wording).
gun piercings pose lots of risks and generally are just unsafe.

Not to mention Claire's is a very female store, though maybe that was your intent with the parentals? But it's definitely better to actually go to a piercing place, rather than somewhere in the mall.

Quote from: hayden. on March 03, 2009, 09:49:24 PM
didn't mean to offend or anything, hope it wasn't taken that way.
as someone who is heavily into modification -- those places really aren't ideal for getting a piercing.
and while i realize you're only looking at a simple earlobe piercing, they're still iffy (for lack of better wording).
gun piercings pose lots of risks and generally are just unsafe.

yes this.

I've always had my ears pierced.  My mom took me to get them done when I was around 6 because I dressed like a boy and she thought it would make people see me as a girl...lol it didnt work, people still thought I was a boy, back to the subject. 

I think it depends on the look you are trying to pull off.  It's 2009, i mean honestly...our generation of guys beg the parents to let them get their ears pierced. I wouldn't be surprised if more guys in our age group have their ears pierced than guys that don't.  it might make you look a little more metro but that isn't a bad thing.  I also think gauges are a lot less fem. than regular piercings.  I had mine gauged to a 4 and just recently took them out because I feel it's time for me to begin to prepare to get a real job, and I only have a year left of college.  If you want your ears pierced go for it, I really doubt it will make you pass any more or less than you do now, times are changing and it's a very common thing in guys.   

Well, to your question...
I have gauges 10mm on both ears. Without them I'd look more masculine, but a lot of really masculine looking men do have two gauges as well.. Though, I'd recommend to do it when you're on T, since your face will look more masculine then and the gauges will not disturb anyone.
I remember a little girl asking my granny whether I was a boy or a girl. My granny (great as half my family ^^) told her that I am a boy, obviously. The little girl just said something like: "But he has two earrings" [in fact two gauges, every little girl aged 5 is afraid of xD) and my granny explained to her that boys can wear earrings as well xD So, I guess earrings are some kind of stereotype ^^'

Your granny sounds awesome! :D

Now, to the OT.. to be perfectly honest, I think while you have plain studs they'll look feminine.  Or at least more feminine than non-pierced ears.  But I've seen gauges in men a lot more often than I've seen them in women, so.. I doubt those will be a problem.

I've heard guns aren't ideal piercing tools.. I got mine done at Piercing Pagoda, they use a gun.  Four piercings [two in each lobe], the first two I got in 8th grade and the last two I got last year.  Both of the ones I got last year got infected, one of them I had to let close entirely. :-\ Which struck me as odd since everything was absolutely fine when I had my first ones done in 8th grade at the same place with the same method.  Meh.  But I always thought Claire's would be suspect since.. at least in the places by me, I wouldn't trust any of the people who worked there with being properly sterile.

I think it depends on who you encounter (and their stereotypes) whether you'll be taken as a girl because of ear piercings.  For some people, more 'manly' earrings like the gauged stuff might work in your favor.  For others, it'll still be a case of earrings = girl.  Seriously, my grandmother (aged 80) has it in her head that long hair = girl.  Period.  A guy was laying carpet in her house and brought his young son with hair a little longer than jawbone length; the kid was otherwise dressed in typical boy clothes and seemed unambiguously male in speech and actions.  My grandmother insisted on calling the boy 'she' even after he yelled "I'm not a girl!" *shrug*

If the earrings seem to be making too many people think you're female, you can always take 'em out.  There will still be holes, but not too noticeable.  And yeah, I have to agree with people who said Claire's & other similar places that use the ear-piercing guns pretty much suck.  Yeah, the gun will get the job done and it's probably OK for small gauged holes.  However, if you experience goes like mine did (my mother forced me to get my ears pierced at age 5), you'll have some seriously crooked holes and scarring.  The girl who did it clearly wasn't very practiced with the gun and actually pierced one ear twice.  They later got infected & healed over, so my mom took me back to have it re-done.  I haven't worn earrings in over 10 years, but the holes still get infected from time to time (probably unrelated to the method of piercing, but still... wish I didn't have those extraneous little holes in my ears).

I've seen lots of guys with ear piercings. Some with many. It's very pop for NFL football players to get their ears pierced. i.e. Terrell Owens - Dallas Cowboys. Guy's do tend to put larger ear studs in their ears. But Ive also seen some with small studs. I want to get my ears pieced but am nervous about it. I want a friend to go with me. I like very fem. earrings and studs.  :laugh:

Quote from: Virginia Marie on March 04, 2009, 12:18:37 AM
I want to get my ears pieced but am nervous about it.

It hurts less than getting a shot at the doctor's office. :D

Personally, I think earrings are feminizing, even on dudes.  If you are attempting to look masculine, I'd advise against getting pierced now.

OK, I think that's wrong, but let me tell you why.   

I know way too many guys from all walks of life who have pierced ears.  They don't wear all the time, but they are there.

And... There are very fem earrings, sort of fem earrings, and tons of unisex earrings, and some macho, and some very macho.  I'm thinking of some nice silver hoop, with a silver wire wrap, with some nice macho detail - thunderbolt, diamond, whatever... a nice tight to the earlobe ring, that's pretty male, girls don't wear things like that, well, nice girls don't, and fem girls don't. 

All you're really talking about is putting some good size studs in, treating them with the salt water, or alcohol or whatever they tell you to use for a month and a half, let them stretch and heal, then you only need to wear something every now and again.

You can have fun, I know I do.  I wear something on one ear for the first part of the night, and switch it and see if anyone notices.  But then again...

I'm easy to amuse.

Quote from: tekla on March 04, 2009, 12:41:22 AM
Personally, I think earrings are feminizing, even on dudes.  If you are attempting to look masculine, I'd advise against getting pierced now.

OK, I think that's wrong, but let me tell you why.   

I know way too many guys from all walks of life who have pierced ears.  They don't wear all the time, but they are there.

And... There are very fem earrings, sort of fem earrings, and tons of unisex earrings, and some macho, and some very macho.  I'm thinking of some nice silver hoop, with a silver wire wrap, with some nice macho detail - thunderbolt, diamond, whatever... a nice tight to the earlobe ring, that's pretty male, girls don't wear things like that, well, nice girls don't, and fem girls don't. 

All you're really talking about is putting some good size studs in, treating them with the salt water, or alcohol or whatever they tell you to use for a month and a half, let them stretch and heal, then you only need to wear something every now and again.

You can have fun, I know I do.  I wear something on one ear for the first part of the night, and switch it and see if anyone notices.  But then again...

I'm easy to amuse

hey, i'm not saying that super manly dudes don't have them...  but wearing shiny metal things on your face doesn't exactly make you look rugged, does it?

Alot of guys stretch there ears.. however I am not really into that as I know the results afterwards.. I have both my ears pierced and I wear fake small black plugs.. I would wear small silver balls but I couldn't find too.

Its personal preference.

Jay

I've been wearing earrings for years, and it's never had a noticeable effect on my ability to pass. I wear two gold hoops. You can barely even see them most of the time...

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi197.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa10%2FOpera_Ghost24%2FPhoto1.jpg&hash=3cd194dd2741b401752ecd0dfa37abe5b2aac685)

(https://www.susans.org/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi197.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa10%2FOpera_Ghost24%2FPhoto5.jpg&hash=61df393341835947b1f8d761ee92b0670a3d8056)

I have my ears pierced. Two holes in each ear and a top one on one ear. I have mine gauged to a size 2. I think until I got them gauged a bit they looked fem. But it to me all depends on the earring you wear. If a man pick out some dangley gold earring it would even make him look fem. You just have to get something simple and masculine. Make it work. You always see pro athletes with thier ears pierced. my bro is a big masculine football captain and so and and wears a big diamond stud in each ear.

I don't see any problem with earrings on a dude. I used to have 8... 3 in the right, 5 in the left. When I went full-time, I cut it down to just the ones in the left, and when I had to remove my earrings for work, I ended up letting them all but close... all but the one in my left ear lobe. I have a 12-gauge in that one now, and I never take it out. No one's ever said anything, and it's pretty common for dudes to have one earring... heck, in Colorado, where I'm living right now, it's actually more typical for guys to have both ears pierced, whether they're gauged or not.

BTW... 8 or 6 is not really a "small" gauge. That would be sufficiently masculine, in my opinion. In the end, though, it's more how you act than how you look that determines how people will read your gender.

SD

i think smaller earrings would work against you unless they were captive bead hoops or something or they were stretched pretty large.

I have one pierced, it's in my cartilage not the lobe, just a tiny lil stud. I don't think earrings really work for or against you, everyone has ear piercings. A really masculine one I've seen is a U with balls/points at the two ends, I think that makes people look more masculine. Anything else is really neutral

Quote from: Chamillion on March 04, 2009, 05:48:26 PM
I have one pierced, it's in my cartilage not the lobe, just a tiny lil stud. I don't think earrings really work for or against you, everyone has ear piercings. A really masculine one I've seen is a U with balls/points at the two ends, I think that makes people look more masculine. Anything else is really neutral

Yeah that's the kind I was planning to start off with, at least until I can stretch them, since anything cooler/still masculine is rather expensive. Earrings in general are expensive...I'm just beginning to realize. $18 for two sets seems ridiculous to me.

Hat the top cartilage pierced not long ago.  I know that didn;t effect passing, however I ended up loosing it as was allergic to the metal and it got infected.

I'm just beginning to realize. $18 for two sets seems ridiculous to me.

Wait till you buy the diamond ones dear.  Add three zeros, and that is just one and a half sets.

I have plugs in my ears and haven't noticed them causing me not to pass!  I think gauged ears work for transguys because a lot of men have there ears gauged.   Totally up to you though bro!

Ok now on to my rant!!!!  I use to work at a tattoo shop for quite some time and learned quite a bit of stuff while I was there.  First of all DO NOT EVER get your ears or anything else pierced by a gun.  Guns can not be completely steralized.  (which leads to a bigger risk of infection)  Also with a gun it separates the skin to form a hole whereas a needle is hollow point and removes the excess skin.  The reason this is done is because it causes less infection along with causing less "blowouts."  I as a child had my ears pierced with a gun (because I didn't know any better) and was fortunate enough to not have any complications.  However for your own saftey and well being please please please go to a professional piercing place.

Quote from: tekla on March 04, 2009, 09:04:24 PM
I'm just beginning to realize. $18 for two sets seems ridiculous to me.

Wait till you buy the diamond ones dear.  Add three zeros, and that is just one and a half sets.

True, but why would he buy diamond ones?  :)

Few things look more studly then those NFL guys with the huge diamonds in the ear.  I love it.  They are pretty, and if you get them the right size and cut, they don't look fem at all.

Definitely echo the gun piercing remark... those things are horrendous. When I was 10 I got my ears pierced for the first time. I've never been good with pain, but they assured me it would be virtually painless. This was 1992, when guns were about all that was used. So, I mustered up all the courage I could get, and on the first ear, THE GUN GOT STUCK!!! The darned thing was stuck in my ear, and horrible pain ensued. I almost walked out with only one ear pierced, which I actually wouldn't have minded, but my mom would have raised hell. Point is, needles are much better. Go to one of those tattoo & piercing shops... those guys do it so quick, it doesn't hurt at all.

I did some searching online, because I've had a problem with the high prices folks charge for earrings, and this is what I found:

http://www.painfulpleasures.com/xcart/wholesaler/search.php?mode=search&in_category=160&mod_sort_direction=0 (http://www.painfulpleasures.com/xcart/wholesaler/search.php?mode=search&in_category=160&mod_sort_direction=0)

https://body-piercing.jumora.net/ (https://body-piercing.jumora.net/)

Both have incredibly low prices, though the second seems to have a larger selection. While we're still on the topic, too, unless you've had earrings before and know what metals your body can handle, I advise using only surgical/stainless steel. I learned pretty quickly I couldn't use gold... not only does it turn my ears green, but they get infected. Tempered metal (steel that has been colored) is even worse... I had to let one of my piercings close after it got infected from a tempered metal piercing I'd worn only 2 days. Hope this stuff helps.

SD

Stainless steel is what my earing was supposed to been but had an alergic reaction to it.  and yeh when was getting it pierced actually was attempted twice, first time at a place used a gun and they did it wrong, so got it refunded and went to a goth place where a guy with 15 years experience, and certified in peircing did it with a needle