No. I think it looks... I mean... No.

KneeLord:
Christ, you people think lobe stretching is weird and icky? Go look at some pictures of urethral splits and come back with some perspective.

If you're thusly inclined, BME's adult/extreme mod place would be a good starting point.

Urgh, don't remind me of urethral splits. I'd thought I'd seen it all. But BME is a good place to start to actually get some sort of understanding of piercing culture.

MaxTheReaper:

AuntyEthel:
Well I have a flesh-tunnel in my tragus, not my earlobe. It does look fucking awesome, and I've never seen/met anyone with the same thing. Those people who say it's disgusting/unmanly/faggish are just close-minded idiots who can't open their eyes to people who enjoy alternative cultures. Ironic as this is a gaming website. Also, calling a tunnel an earring is pretty ignorant and really irks me.

Yeah, they're closed-minded idiots.
Or they just have a different opinion on what manly is. Or they don't share your opinion that it isn't digusting.
Yeah, that can't be chalked up to taste. It's just that they're stupid fucking cunts.
Congratulations, though. I'm glad you think it's awesome. But when you're telling people they're stupid for not agreeing with you on a matter of personal taste, just remember they're thinking the exact same thing.

Hmm... I probably didn't word it as well as I should have. What I meant to say was that people often judge piercings/tattoos/etc to be stupid/disgusting/uncultured/idiotic without thinking of the reason why people would do it. Most people here seem to think that people do it just for image and fashion. Fair enough, some people do, but those who do it to the extreme do it for person reasons, like spirituality or feeling that the outside body does not represent who they are inside. Judging that to be disgusting is quite shitty in my view.

I dunno, I think it's one of those things... like stupid outfits, if you happen to have a simply huge ammount of personal charisma and/or you are a professional rock star you can get away with it and it's fairly cool.

If not it makes you look just a little bit silly.

AuntyEthel:

MaxTheReaper:

AuntyEthel:
Well I have a flesh-tunnel in my tragus, not my earlobe. It does look fucking awesome, and I've never seen/met anyone with the same thing. Those people who say it's disgusting/unmanly/faggish are just close-minded idiots who can't open their eyes to people who enjoy alternative cultures. Ironic as this is a gaming website. Also, calling a tunnel an earring is pretty ignorant and really irks me.

Yeah, they're closed-minded idiots.
Or they just have a different opinion on what manly is. Or they don't share your opinion that it isn't digusting.
Yeah, that can't be chalked up to taste. It's just that they're stupid fucking cunts.
Congratulations, though. I'm glad you think it's awesome. But when you're telling people they're stupid for not agreeing with you on a matter of personal taste, just remember they're thinking the exact same thing.

Hmm... I probably didn't word it as well as I should have. What I meant to say was that people often judge piercings/tattoos/etc to be stupid/disgusting/uncultured/idiotic without thinking of the reason why people would do it. Most people here seem to think that people do it just for image and fashion. Fair enough, some people do, but those who do it to the extreme do it for person reasons, like spirituality or feeling that the outside body does not represent who they are inside. Judging that to be disgusting is quite shitty in my view.

For spirituality, ok. But, if it's because you feel the outside body does not represent who you are on the inside. Then why do you put in an earring? If they do think the inside is the most important thing and the outside is just a shell, good for them, but my question remains the same, why take all the effort to "improve" your looks? :). it's Ironic IMO.

WaffleGod:
For spirituality, ok. But, if it's because you feel the outside body does not represent who you are on the inside. Then why do you put in an earring? If they do think the inside is the most important thing and the outside is just a shell, good for them, but my question remains the same, why take all the effort to "improve" your looks? :). it's Ironic IMO.

Dunno really. I'm not at that stage as I just have my one stretching. I have heard stories of people who were depressed by their physical appearance, and having a giant spike stuck through their nose or ear made them more at ease and able to get on with life. It might not be something we can fully understand, but if it helped some people then I don't see what's wrong with it.

MaxTheReaper:
You're right. You didn't word it well at all, and that's why I jumped your case, for the most part. Well, that, and I've been up for like three days straight and I'm beginning to see things.
Personally, I think tattoos can be awesome, (on the right kind of girl or guy, anyway,) same goes with piercings. I'm not fond of the gauges (as they're called that here, as well,) and I wouldn't get them, but if someone else wants to do so, I'm not going to curb stomp them, or anything.
Maybe just a light whap upside the back of the head... :P
EDIT: I do think spirituality is bullshit, however, but that's just me. I'm such a hateful atheist that nothing supernatural this way comes.
Expressing yourself through piercings and such is fine. But just remember, like I said, just because someone has a different opinion doesn't mean they're ignorant. And, if it makes you feel better, they've probably done something really stupid at least once in their life, so you can hold that over them.
I know I do.

I don't believe in spirituality either, but some do and practice it.

I've never heard stretchings being called gauges. Gauge is a piercing measurement, so you'd get a 00 gauge instead of a 10mm piercing. Though I suppose it is the local colloquialism.

The title of this thread is a paradox.

I never saw the appeal of poking a hole in my ear and hanging something on it.

I have tattoos, both of my forearms are 50% covered with a dragon and a tiger, but I can't bring myself to fall into the realm of piercing. I didn't think they were cool when I was a kid, and can't say my opinion has changed much. I used to have a roommate who, I have to say, has to this day, the worst-looking piercings on the planet. He looks old for his age anyway (he was 28 when he got the bulk of them), and, sad to say, the piercings make him look like a middle-aged guy who hit his midlife crisis head-on. Another friend has let all but two of his close over. He got over the piercing bug when his nephew ripped his eyebrow ring out by accident.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:

jasoncyrus:
When i see these stupid people I want to do one of two things:

Either A) rip them out and laugh as they scream in agony.

Or B) Knock them out and ship them to a brazillian rainforest tribe where they won't look so stupid.

When I see stupid people playing stupid videogames, I want to burn their consoles in front of them, then kick them outside in the sunshine to get some fresh air. See? Isn't needless sadism fun?

Anyway, I've got an earring in my ear, and I'm not ashamed of it. Indeed, I think, and others have agreed with me, that it suits me. You guys should try going to Camden some day. I reckon at least half of you would die of heart attacks, going by the reactions here.

Earrings are fine, I have no problem with earrings.

These hoops, gauges or whatever the hell they are called are NOT earrings. It's wanna be bastardised tribal decoration. IT's supposed to be a mark of maturity, etc, etc. Not a fashion accessory.

Definitely looks disgusting to mutilate one's ear as the Aztecs may have. I'm fine with simple studs or perhaps even a jaunty golden ring, but lobe-weights really put me off conversation or even looking at a person.

I've got a stud I got it because I thought it looked good,and to me it does.

Honestly, I prefer those flashes (that's what they're called here :P) rather than other earings wore by men. I understand that in certain tribes, wearing earings is a thing of ritual, but it's not the same in modern society. In modern society, it's just dumb(and I'm generalizing now). With that said, I'm not disgusted by gauges, nor would I destroy my earlobe to wear one of those or other types of earings.

Willwillwritehiswill:

Monkfish Acc.:

Uncompetative:
Pirates only.

But what if you want to be a pirate?

Then buy a boat first.

By god, a boat! Why didn't I think of it?

I don't mind men with earrings in the least. I'm actually thinking about getting one of mine pierced myself, though I haven't decided yet. Ear gauging, however... I mean, why would I want a hole-big-enough-that-I-can-put-a-pencil-though-it in my ear?

I can shed a little light on the tradition, however. Apparently its an African thing, if I recall correctly. Don't stab me if I'm wrong, but I do remember watching something on the Discovery channel about other cultures, and ear gauging was something a tribe did for beauty. Kinda like that head-extender necklace thing.

KneeLord:
Christ, you people think lobe stretching is weird and icky? Go look at some pictures of urethral splits and come back with some perspective.

If you're thusly inclined, BME's adult/extreme mod place would be a good starting point.

yeah i second that, if ppl think earings are bad, wonder what they'd think about guys who split their penis in half or other odd stuff they do on bme and in body modification in general

and for those saying "oh it looks gay" how the heck would you know what looks gay unless you were gay yourself but then again i can show you a bunch of gay guys that you'd have hard pressed to say "yeah he's gay" you'd probly think tehy're straight

Lyiat:
I don't mind men with earrings in the least. I'm actually thinking about getting one of mine pierced myself, though I haven't decided yet. Ear gauging, however... I mean, why would I want a hole-big-enough-that-I-can-put-a-pencil-though-it in my ear?

I can shed a little light on the tradition, however. Apparently its an African thing, if I recall correctly. Don't stab me if I'm wrong, but I do remember watching something on the Discovery channel about other cultures, and ear gauging was something a tribe did for beauty. Kinda like that head-extender necklace thing.

I can understand the whole gauge thing being a tradition for some cultures, but I still don't know how it ended up becoming a fad among teenagers nowadays. I'm not sure that a couple guys coming back from a trip, and doing that to their own ears would start a big fad like that. I can only hope this one won't last, like the "Pretend you're gay" fad did.

Also, to sort of point myself back in the right direction, it's not earrings in general I dislike, it's just the reasoning behind the majority of them. And gauges. Always gauges.

Seems pretty girly. I think the only way a guy could get away with wearing an earing is if the earing itself was a kunai knife, and even so it would only be masculine if the one wearing it had defeated a ninja with it.

Neosage:

this is big

That's what SHE said. Zing.

They can have as many earrings as they want and look as odd as they want with them, just as long as they pick up the can when I tell them to.

Wow, first of all congratulations to everyone for the full on show of intolerance in here.
I have a few piercings, two lobe, and one helix in my left ear, an 8mm tunnel in my right, and a septum piercing. I also have seven tattoos.

Do I do it for the attention? No I'm in my mid twenties and grew out of that in my early teens. To try and get the chicks? no I'm happily married, Gay? see my previous answer. I do it because I personally like the way it looks on me. I'm not doing it to follow a trend, to stand out, or shock anyone I do it because as I said, I personally like it.
I'm also not a drop-out, I am a retail manager of a large store earning £26k ($39k USD)before bonus'

The opinions here are so stupidly outdated its hilarious, its like saying any woman in a low cut top must be a whore, or anyone wearing black worships Satan. Christ people the 21st century has been here for a while, try and catch up.

If you want stupidity think about how idiotic it is to wear the latest style because the adverts told you to, or because all your friends do. Or spending hours of your life each week living a virtual life though games when you could leave the house and socialise, because lets face it the news stations say gamers are violent social recluses with no concept of the opposite sex or how to seperate reality from fiction so it must be true!

Unkillable Cat:
Wow, first of all congratulations to everyone for the full on show of intolerance in here.
I have a few piercings, two lobe, and one helix in my left ear, an 8mm tunnel in my right, and a septum piercing. I also have seven tattoos.

Do I do it for the attention? No I'm in my mid twenties and grew out of that in my early teens. To try and get the chicks? no I'm happily married, Gay? see my previous answer. I do it because I personally like the way it looks on me. I'm not doing it to follow a trend, to stand out, or shock anyone I do it because as I said, I personally like it.
I'm also not a drop-out, I am a retail manager of a large store earning £26k ($39k USD)before bonus'

The opinions here are so stupidly outdated its hilarious, its like saying any woman in a low cut top must be a whore, or anyone wearing black worships Satan. Christ people the 21st century has been here for a while, try and catch up.

If you want stupidity think about how idiotic it is to wear the latest style because the adverts told you to, or because all your friends do. Or spending hours of your life each week living a virtual life though games when you could leave the house and socialise, because lets face it the news stations say gamers are violent social recluses with no concept of the opposite sex or how to seperate reality from fiction so it must be true!

I did not mean to imply that all fellows with piercings or earrings were doing it simply for a fad. I apologize if I offended you, and you are most certainly guaranteed your point of view. Although, it is good to hear of a case where the person actually stated why they wear the earrings, instead of simply saying they do.

I made my assumption based on the statistics of the population of my college. This involves about 1 in 10 of the guys there with an earring of some sort(stud, hoop, what have you), with about 1 in 3 of them having at least one gauge, most with one in each ear.

I also didn't make any analogies, you did that, and I am not going to make them unless asked. Certainly there are others that feel the same way you do, but I find it hard to believe that of a good third of men that wear earrings, they all do it for the reasons you stated.

Monkfish Acc.:

Uncompetative:
Pirates only.

But what if you want to be a pirate?

Er.. I don't think pirates ask permission to do anything...

I think the smaller "stretchers" are ok - just. The ridiculously large ones are just weird, especialy when taken out. I do, however, hate the "diamond" stud earrings that so many seem to have.

Guys wearing earrings? xD I don't even like to wear any

Where I live. Guys wear earrings to show other guys with earrings they are badass and will beat them up. We call them 'jhonnies' which is somewhat the equivalent of the american redneck.

They act like amfetamine fueled chimps and they look like amfetamine fueled chimps. Which makes me think they are amfetamine fueled chimps and we should study them because they may be the missing link in human evolution.

Sennz0r:
I'm guessing these are the new trend or something. Gotta say, I don't find these as disturbing as some guy putting an obviously fake golden loop through his ear. Partially because the gold earring is commonly worn by filthy, slick types around here.

However, I've seen people who have hole-rings like the OP showed us, but about 4 times as big. That's when it becomes disgusting.

It becomes disgusting when they forget to put the hoop in and you see them with a giant hole in their earlobe and it flaps about in the wind.

Sycker:

Sennz0r:
I'm guessing these are the new trend or something. Gotta say, I don't find these as disturbing as some guy putting an obviously fake golden loop through his ear. Partially because the gold earring is commonly worn by filthy, slick types around here.

However, I've seen people who have hole-rings like the OP showed us, but about 4 times as big. That's when it becomes disgusting.

It becomes disgusting when they forget to put the hoop in and you see them with a giant hole in their earlobe and it flaps about in the wind.

I have never seen that, but the image saits very vividly in my head right now and yes that's the pinnacle of disgusting.

Uncompetative:

Monkfish Acc.:

Uncompetative:
Pirates only.

But what if you want to be a pirate?

Er.. I don't think pirates ask permission to do anything...

So, go ahead, but you will need one of these:

...
Wow, I have a lot to learn about being a pirate. I suppose I could be one of those lame ones with the pornstaches, but then I wouldn't be able to say "wenches" or go "arr".