I’m Letting my 12-Year-Old Boy Get his Ears Pierced, Cuz it’s Sexist Not To

I got mine pierced when I was 7-years-old, so what's the difference?

As far as parenting goes, we're big fans of incentives. If you want to call it "bribing," that's fine. Because let's be honest - life is about incentive. We go to work to get a paycheck. We work harder to get bigger paychecks. We don't see anything wrong with starting the incentive system with our preteen son. That's what an allowance, no? An incentive to do chores? ;)

He's been Irish dancing for almost three years now and in an attempt to get him to practice more and work towards a goal, we told him that if he competes in a feis (pronounced 'fesh' - means Irish dance competition), he could get his ears pierced. He's been asking us to do this for about a year now, so we decided to use it as a carrot-on-a-stick.

Well, just like everything else in life, the time has come. The competition is tomorrow, and he's been practicing for three months. So now, we're planning for the payoff - getting his ears pierced. Straight studs, nothing fancy. He wants both ears. He's aware that it's a commitment, possibly lifelong. He's aware that he has to clean them and take care of them, and he's not allowed to gauge them until he's 18.

Of course, as a mom, I was hesitant. But wouldn't it be sexist to say that he can't do it? Why the heck not? I had mine pierced when I was SEVEN. Hell, by the time I was his age, I had TWO piercings in BOTH ears.

It was an interesting conclusion to come to, that it's sexist to say that a preteen boy can't get his ears pierced but that it's fine for girls, as young as babies, to have theirs pierced.