It begins.
I got me snug pierced and that was that. Thought I’d be over my piercing phase, alas I was wrong.
Initially I hated the stretched-lobe look. People with stretch lobes were unemployable—deviants of society. The devil. But oddly, the more I looked the more I liked. I’m still not a huge fan of those who stretch to the point of mass ‘lobel’ deformity, destined to some day catch their ear on a door handle, but 8mm really seemed to shine. Not too big not too small. I’m also drawn to the jewellery. There are some amazing black tribal drops, hooks, spirals and claws, not to mention some rather swanky looking plugs- so being female and having this incurable need to have a little side project on the go– and the constant frivolous need to buy things I really do not at all need, I decided I’d stretch my 1st pierced set to 4mm.
I’ve done me homework and I have a pretty good idea concerning, what it is exactly, I’m about to do. And that is… modify my poor, change-resistant body just that little bit more.
I did of course consult my council. My mother, my significant other, my brother and my hamster.
Brother: “go for it”
Mother: (not so impressed expression)
Significant other: “If you must but I’ll just tell you it looks shit”
Hamster: (always supportive- was rewarded with a chocolate drop)
Council consulted, I acquired my partner’s credit card and ordered 2x 1.6mm surgical steel spirals from bodyjewellershop.com (look what this site has done to me!). Whilst awaiting delivery I took it upon myself to find the root of this tissue enlarging process and acquaint myself with its many meanings, values and societal perceptions.
Let me regurgitate my findings …
Stretching is the deliberate expansion of a healed fistula (a very sexy word that refers to the hole in the skin) for the purpose of wearing body piercing jewellery. The process can take years depending on what size the fistula’s owner is aiming for and is ideally, for the purpose of not damaging yourself needlessly, done in small increments. You can, if you are few brain cells short, ram a 6mm plug into a 1.2mm piercing and hope for the best. But it is almost guaranteed the ‘best’ will be laughing at you as you sit in A&E waiting for your ear to be stitched back together.According to a citation on painfulpleasures.com…
“The ear-lobe was probably man’s first attempt at body piercing due to the ease with which it can be pierced. The oldest mummified body in the world was found frozen in an Austrian Glacier in 1991, tests showed the body to be over 5,000 years old. The body had pierced ears and the holes had been enlarged to 7-11mm diameter.
Ears were probably first pierced for magical purposes, very many primitive tribes believe that demons can enter the body through the ear, because demons and spirits are supposed to be repelled by metal, ear-piercing prevents them entering the body. Sailors used to have an ear pierced to improve eyesight, and if the bodies washed up somewhere it would pay for a christian burial. In many societies ear piercing is done as a puberty ritual, in Borneo the Mother and Father each pierce one ear as a symbol of the child’s dependance on their parents.
Ear piercing is an almost universal practice for men and women, it’s only in western society that it’s deemed effeminate. At various times in history men wore elaborate earrings; during the Elizabethan era many famous men such as Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raliegh and Francis Drake wore gold rings in their ears.’
It’s also worth noting that it’s western society that deems it some sort of carnal sin, rendering the wearer an untouchable who is the sole cause for all of society’s ills.
What with the punky 60’s and 70’s, acceptability of sexual expression, drugs and other undesirable-act perception’s being relaxed as society matures and becomes desensitised; it’s only recently (last 10 odd years) that people have stopped screeching and clutching at small children when stretch-lobed persons walk by.
The fact we mere humans have been doing it since we started running amok and waggling spears means nothing. I personally blame the Victorians. Everything went conservatively awry when they waltz onto the scene- ironic considering they were just as deviant if not more.
See else where in the world, in certain tribes and cultures the bigger the stretch the more value you hold. The more cows you may be swapped for, the purer you are, the prettier you are. Here the bigger stretch the more likely you are not to work in an office and that’s about it- probably more likely to have a tattoo and dyed hair. I dye my hair, but only with L’Oreal Casting crème…milk chocolate.
So yis. There we have it. It’s always been done just as the sun has always risen (that’s not true technically you know, the sun doesn’t actually ‘rise’ the earth is tilted on an axis and it just looks like it’s rising… shocking I know). Yet it’s not accepted because the ankle-fearing Victorians stuck their nose up to anything that wasn’t under 11 layers of clothing.
Despite all this, it is well and truly back in fashion. I hold my hands up to this. I have been pulled into it for fashionable reasons. Not because I see everyone with them and think ‘ dear god I must have one of those’ but because I really do, genuinely think they look good. As if anyone does it for medical or religious reasons. And being back in fashion it is becoming less taboo. Huzzah for stretching.
Today my spirals turned up. What marvellous things the royal mail can achieve (being in Falmouth we seldom expect anything to turn up). At current my ears are 1.2mm- as when initially pierced. 1.2mm or any measurement of jewellery is the gauge, the thickness… girth if you like. It also represents the size of the cavity made in your ear. Naturally all 1.2mm holes will take only 1.2mm gauged jewellery (or smaller if you want it to fall out and get lost). My spirals are 1.6mm. Point four of a millimetre bigger, but fook me did I feel it. Lemme tell ya, size does matter.
My piercings are also 18, 7 and 5 years old (the snug is 3 weeks). I feel it is not wise to attempt a stretch on anything younger than 6 months. Twould not be nice for the fresh wound.
In a month and 2 weeks I shall increase again, this time by a whole 0.5 millimetres! Gripping stuff I know. Then depending on how that shock to the lobe goes, in another 6-8 weeks increase again to 3mm and then finally 4mm. So come end of November (birthday time- jewellery based presents I feel) I shall be the proud owner of an extremely healthy, beautifully healed, glamorously dressed pair of 4mm stretched piercings.
I wish only to go to 4mms as I have ickle ears and do not wish to upset them too much. I also do not wish to stretch beyond the point of no return. Online literature has it that anything bigger than 7-8mm will have considerable issues downsizing- hence the extremely invaluable skin elasticity and TLC required.
I have the utmost respect for myself and my body. I treat it to ashtanga yoga, rowing (that’s as in ‘row row row your boat’, not massive slagging matches with my partner), copious green tea, fresh fruits, veg and lots of fish based meals… I do not wish to test it so much that it spits in my face and then dies on its arse. Therefore the stretching will not exceed my body’s comfortable limits. I know you were dieing to know that last part.
Updates may very well follow, but for now, my 1.6mm stretched ears shall be soaked in a seasalt solution occasionally and then left to heal until the 16thish of July.
