My niece had her ears done when she was six. I was more than a little shocked at this but, as my brother-in law said, "She insisted on it!" Yes, they live in Essex. No, he's not what is commonly known as a 'chav'. Actually, he used to be a solicitor - and my sister too. That's just the way they do things down there. When our own daughter asked about this we told her - honestly I hope - that her ears hadn't finished growing yet and it was too early to be putting holes in them. She got them done when she was sixteen.
This ear piercing business is complicated. Women have been doing it throughout recorded history, partly in an attempt to attract a mate but also because a swinging weight dangling from the earlobe provides continuous low-level sexual stimulation. They don't tell you that in those fashion magazines.
There are worse things that parents can do to their children. Male circumcision has already been mentioned. There is of course no such thing as female circumcision. The correct name for that procedure is clitorectomy and it's been illegal in the UK for a long time now. But this was not always the case. If my memory is correct, the first two European countries to outlaw this particularly barbaric act were Denmark and France. To our shame, we lagged somewhere behind.
This ear piercing business is complicated. Women have been doing it throughout recorded history, partly in an attempt to attract a mate but also because a swinging weight dangling from the earlobe provides continuous low-level sexual stimulation. They don't tell you that in those fashion magazines.
There are worse things that parents can do to their children. Male circumcision has already been mentioned. There is of course no such thing as female circumcision. The correct name for that procedure is clitorectomy and it's been illegal in the UK for a long time now. But this was not always the case. If my memory is correct, the first two European countries to outlaw this particularly barbaric act were Denmark and France. To our shame, we lagged somewhere behind.