tongue-piercing

In the eighties, body piercings such as a tongue piercing or an eyebrow piercing were only for those members of society who wanted to stay on the outskirts of society.  In the late 90’s and in the earliest part of the 21st century, a much larger group began to make body and tongue piercing a part of mainstream culture; or at least that’s what they tried to do.  However, all these people who managed to have piercings and still be considered to be a part of mainstream culture had one thing in common – they were all young, and they’re not getting any younger.

Tongue piercing is not a household expression; pierced ears certainly IS a household expression.  Although many parents don’t necessarily bring their infants in to get their ears pierced, it’s an accepted rite of passage in the life of most American girls.  The whole question on the acceptability of men having pierced ears, one of them versus both, seems to have been put to rest.  The question of the acceptability of tongue piercing, eyebrow piercing, and others has certainly NOT come to rest.  Many employers do not allow ‘visible body piercings’ (with the exception of the ears).  This means that body piercings such as eyebrow, nose, lip and tongue are unacceptable; however, even further outlying body piercings, such as nipple and navel piercings are allowed in the workplace simply because they can not, presumably, be seen by customers or by others in the workplace.

So, is it the label as unacceptable in the workplace that deems tongue piercing actually unacceptable in modern society, or is the tongue piercing actually such a bizarre practice that it actually IS unacceptable for the workplace.  Think of it this way…some people think public displays of affection are okay and some people think that they are not okay.  Whether or not they’re actually okay is open for discussion, but everyone accepts that public displays of affection are unacceptable in the workplace.  No one questions that.  So why do workers complain about having their self-expression thwarted by not being permitted to have an eyebrow ring in at work?  I’m sure that there is, indeed, a difference.  For the time being, exotic piercings such as tongue piercing and eyebrow piercing remain in the domain of inappropriate for the workplace.

There was a time in the late nineties when facial piercings were becoming so popular that it was conceivable that, at least with the younger generations, facial piercings would become mainstream.  Could a tongue piercing be the 21st century equivalent of the ‘long hair’ of the seventies?  There was a time when you couldn’t get a ‘respectable’ job if you were male and had long hair.  Of course, those days are over.  If such a man works in food service, he’s asked to tie his hair up, but no one these days is asked to cut their hair in order to fit to society’s norm.

I thought five years ago that tongue piercing was traveling the same path.  I thought that by 2010 or by 2015 that facial piercings would be commonly accepted.  I had many coworkers then with lip, eyebrow, and tongue piercings.  Since then, I have seen fewer and fewer people with an abundance of facial piercings.  The ones who had the piercings then have since let them close up after having endured unsightly infections and sustaining injuries from getting these piercings caught on things.  Whether or not a tongue piercing is sexy is debatable; a swollen-beyond-recognition and discolored tongue, lip, nose or eyebrow is, without question, NOT sexy.