Oh my GAWD, you guys, here we go again! To pierce or not to pierce that is the question. And why are we asking it again? Because Gisele Bunchden posted a picture recently of herself holding and gazing lovingly at her 8-month-old daughter Vivian Lake and Vivian has her ears pierced! Apparently, pierced ears on a baby are shocking to many.
Now I am going to make a stereotypical observation that I feel pretty comfortable standing behind: It is pretty normal in many Latino cultures to pierce your daughter's ears before they can even walk. Just ask me, I can't remember how old I was when I got mine pierced because I was way too young to remember. Is it cruel to pierce a baby's ears or is it just a harmless cultural tradition?
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Don't tell me when my daughter's old enough for pierced ears!
Honestly, I don't know and I'm not overly concerned about it. I don't think Vivian Lake is going to suffer any lasting trauma because of her ears being pierced as an infant.
I will say that this is one Latino tradition that I have chosen not to carry on. I am the mother of two daughters and at the ages of 2 and 4 they have no piercings. If they want to get them later when they are older, I will let them.
Why haven't I pierced their ears? For a variety of reasons. One is that I am sorry my ears were pierced at such a young age because whoever did it, did not do it evenly. One piercing is closer to my face than the other and I'm the kind of anal person that obsesses over that kind of thing. Also, aesthetically, I prefer my girls without earrings. And I have these hangups about branding my daughters with "girly" things. If they are drawn to girly things, so be it, but I'm not going to push something that I consider an aesthetic choice on them. Instead I'm pushing my whole, boys can have pierced ears too if and when they want them philosophy on them.
So Gisele, it is obvious that you love your baby girl with or without her earings. I don't think you tortured her by getting her ears pierced, but if she were mine I wouldn't have done it. Now everyone, get over it.
Image via Instagram
