Hold the piercing gun! A mom in Britain has launched an online petition to deem piercing babies' ears as "child cruelty." This debate has been everlasting with passionate points on both sides of the coin. The mother responsible for the campaign, Susan Ingram, writes, "Severe pain and fear is inflicted upon infants unnecessarily. It serves no purpose other than to satisfy the parent's vanity. Other forms of physically harming children are illegal–this should be no different." Many moms may agree with her, but ear piercing during infancy has strong cultural ties for Latinos and is considered a rite of passage. I'm breaking down why baby ear piercing shouldn't be banned. See if you agree with my three reasons.
Read more ¿Qué más?: Not having my ears pierced doesn't make me any less Latina!
1. You don't have to deal with people mistaking your baby's gender: Piercing your baby's ears isn't just about looking cute. There's a gender identity purpose. I was a bald baby and didn't grow a full head of hair until months after I was born. If I didn't have my ears pierced, many would have assumed that I was boy. I'm sure my mom would've gotten comments like, "he's so cute!" Who wants to deal with annoying questions and unintentional disses?
2. Your baby won't remember the pain: Many of the moms against piercing babies' ears argue that you're robbing your child of their own choice and experience. The thing is, they can easily just remove their earrings as a tween and pray that the holes close up. Besides, the experience can be remembered with video and photos. Also, why would you want to remember the painful experience of getting pierced? For babies, the experience last seconds and once they're done crying the pain is over. Babies suffer from falls, bruises and cuts. That's the real world. Their memory won't retain all of the pain they endure in those first few months. They will get over it.
3. Mom always knows best: Would a mother really put their own child at risk or harm? Ultimately, deciding whether to pierce your baby's ears should be a personal choice. On top of that, getting the piercing done as a baby also lowers the chances of infection since the parents have more control over santizing and cleansing.
Image via Corbis
