teen navel piercings?

a random topic, i know, but i have been struggling with this situation for a while. my mom and i are having a debate (well sort of) about why or why not teenagers should be allowed to recieve a belly button piercing..

when i was 14 i had asked my mom for permission to get a navel piercing. my suggestion was repeatedly shot down, being told it looked trashy and that i should wait until i was 18. well, now i am 18 and i have officially acquired a belly button piercing. i have asked my mom why she wouldn't let me get it sooner. why was she so persistant on postponing the inevitable? her reason was still the same: it looks trashy.

so is it? is a simple jewel in the navel slutty?

let me reassure you that i was (and still am) a good kid. i never misbehaved or did drugs, and personally i feel that if getting a belly button peircing was the worst thing i've ever done, she should be pretty dang proud.

Replies

  • uconnwinsnc
    uconnwinsnc Posts: 1,054 Member
    No. It isn't slutty. Perhaps your mother might see it as something you'd like to show off, and generally midriff exposure can be a sexual thing. But really, lets be serious here...it is just another form of body art.

    On another note, a close friend of mine got her nose pierced. Two weeks after she told me off and wanted me to never talk to her again. So now whenever I see girls with nose piercings I am suspicious. :laugh:
  • greeneyes0809
    greeneyes0809 Posts: 422 Member
    It's a generational thing for sure. I know my grandma would never let my mom get her doubles done because "only sluts had more than one piercing per ear". Now doubles, not to mention so many other ear piercings, are extremely common. The trashy stigma, which I don't really think exists, will pass with time.
  • MadeandUnmade
    MadeandUnmade Posts: 9 Member
    My mom took me to get mine done for my 17th birthday. I think I took it out in my early twenties. I also had my tongue pierced when I turned 18, and took that out when I was 22. Like you, I was a pretty good kid. A couple of piercings isn't going turn you trashy. It's not something you're going to have forever. Enjoy it now, and take it out when you grow out of it. Don't let your mother or other people's opinions sway your from expressing yourself.

    I agree with unconn in terms of the piercing having a sexual connotation. No one wants to think of their daughter as being a sex object. Your mom may think it is trashy because, let's be honest, it's usually the trashier girls that are baring their stomachs. She doesn't want that for you. I am pretty conservative so pretty much no one knew I was pierced.

    Keep in mind that tattoos are in the same genre as piercings. They used to be trashy, and now everyone has them. This is a little bit of your mother needing to get with the times, and a little bit of truth in the fact that, while piercings aren't trashy, they're probably not going to be called classy either. Keep it covered when you need to, and flaunt it when it is appropriate.
  • ClaudiaKho13
    ClaudiaKho13 Posts: 229 Member
    No it is not slutty
  • kittyd7015
    kittyd7015 Posts: 4,546 Member
    I asked when I was 17 and mum actualli used it as an incentive for me to drop a few pounds as she said ye if my stomach would look good with it. at the time you wouldn't have seen it!
    nl006_zps1ea177e2.jpg
    so she had a point! then I lost weight and got it done but didn't like it so its gone again! xxx
  • crispsandwich
    crispsandwich Posts: 177 Member
    as a mum with a teenager who had more holes in her ears than a tea bag, I also said no to a tummy piercing - many of her friends had one which never healed, got caught on clothes and also i didn't like the fact that (IMO) they have a "sexy" look about them. 18 i said, when she was 18 she didn't want one lol, but she has now got her nose ring, and her nipple pierced, but less bars in her ears!
  • coolblondenerd
    coolblondenerd Posts: 90 Member
    No it's not slutty or trashy. I'm 26 and I'm thinking of getting mine re-pierced actually.
  • My mum was waaaaay too laid back as a parent. Luckily for her I was a good kid, but being so laid back with my sisters hasn't worked out the same...

    She took me to get mine pierced at 14 (eek, that's so young looking back) I never got my belly button out, I think I just wanted it because my friend had it done. Anyway it certainly didn't turn me slutty, and the only time it's out is when I wear a bikini on holiday :)
  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
    Almost anything young people do these days would be considered slutty and negative back in a day when many of our parents were teenagers. I'm sure when you will grow up and your 14 year old daughter would wanna do something trendy for that particular time we all will think it's silly. Maybe shaving head bold permanently and getting metal hear implanted, I don't know what we will come up after 30 years.

    It's all subjective. Social stereotypes of different times. Problem with a lot of people is that they are stuck at the times they grew up. There is a time when we are teenagers and our friends too, then we grow up and our friends too. We are friends with around same age people all the time, cos we can relate to them. Without communicating much with other generations we are stuck with those ideas and once a new person comes in to your life and says I wanna do some crazy thing it's new to us so we don't get it. I think the only way how to stay open minded to changes is have a lot of friends from younger generations too, so they keep us up to date with new stuff and open minded. Good thing once you get older, I would assume it would help to keep a young spirit alive, good thing when you get older.

    ****, I'm getting too frickin' philosophical again. I'm gonna go ate a cupcake now...
  • jesyfm
    jesyfm Posts: 20 Member
    I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but it's always best to wait - that's what my mum did. Wanted a lip piercing for aaaages, and she said no, that when I was an adult I could do what I want - so I had snakebites at 17 and I got my nose done at 19! My mum doesn't like them but they're removable to it's okay - I'm an adult, and it doesn't matter what she thinks (but she still thinks my tattoo makes me look ''cheap''!)
  • Sunbrooke
    Sunbrooke Posts: 632 Member
    My mom wouldn't let me get any tatoos, or a navel piercing and now I'm really glad. The tatoo I wanted would have looked silly later and the same goes for the ones I thought about getting, but didnt, later on. I'm glad I didn't get the navel piercing because I like how my belly looks without one, and I'm not sure i like the look of the jewelry anymore... Basically, I got old and the ninteys weren't the best time for me to be making permanent fashion decisions, since I'm more conservative about that stuff than I thought.
  • angieroo2
    angieroo2 Posts: 970 Member
    I agree that it's a generational difference. The good thing with navel piercings is if you ever decide you don't like it, you can easily remove it.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    It's your image to think about. Just know that some people will have a negative reaction. If that bothers you, and you are asking an Internet forum about this, then it's something to consider. If it doesn't bother you then I wouldn't worry about it.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    At least it's not a 'tramp stamp'. :P
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
    Mother of 5 kids ranging from 22-8 chiming in.

    I delay/postpone thinigs like piercings/ink/etc because it's step one. If you take step 1 at 14 how long will that satisfy until you need to find some other "creative" outlet?? I prefer making decisions like extreme hair color, piercings & tats something they have to REALLY consider.

    At 18 they can do as they like....if they aren't living in my home. My house, my rules....18 or not.

    Will I break relationship with my kids if they get a tat/peircing or other adornment I don't particularly care for? Of course not. I love my kids. Heck, I got a belly ring when i was 31 and going through an unwanted divorce. Took it out when I got pregnant with my new husband...didn't want to deal with it any more... but it's certainly not something worth getting all worked up over.

    Taking time to make a decision is a good thing. I agree with your mom requiring you to delay, but not with calling it trashy.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Definitely not slutty. It's just a piercing, like ears or any other.

    But I can see her wanting you to wait until age 18. Fourteen probably seems quite young to a mom.

    I grew up in the 90's and remember practically counting down the days until I could get my first tattoo. I have no idea how that stuff works now, but at that time you HAD to be eighteen to get inked in my area and even with parents' permission licensed tattoo artists couldn't do anything before that age. I don't regret it, but I am kind of glad that I didn't get tattoos at 14-15 because I might have picked something much crazier without regard for future life. Not saying 14-17 yr olds are always incapable of making good decisions re: piercings and other body art...but I don't think 18 is an unreasonable minimum age, either.
  • ThePersnicketyOtter
    ThePersnicketyOtter Posts: 147 Member
    I've wanted my belly button pierced since I was 14 or so, too. I just turned 20 and just got it done for my birthday. I'm really glad my dad wouldn't let me get it done sooner because I keep getting it caught on everything and it hurts so bad! I don't think at 14 I would have been able to take care of it properly, I feel like I probably would have torn it out at school or band. So I'm glad I waited. But I don't feel like it's trashy, the only time mine gets seen is when I wear a bathing suit.
  • My mother took my sister and I to get ours when I was 15 and my sister was 14, we were called a disgrace to the family by her bible thumping great aunt for getting the piercing but that old hypocritical hag can suck it :P... My mother has hers done & one tattoo... Body Modification is more and more acceptable -- I will add however.. my mother would have never let us get facial tattoos at that age :) Bottom Line... Not Slutty
  • That does not make a girl trashy. My neighbor girls are 15 and 14 and both have theirs pierced belly buttons. It's just jewelry.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    That does not make a girl trashy. My neighbor girls are 15 and 14 and both have theirs pierced belly buttons. It's just jewelry.

    tiptoes away from this
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    My daughter (16) has "spider bites" on her lip. She is chubby, so a navel piercing is not on her to-do list. But if she asked, and she paid for it with money she earned, then I would let her have it done. I think at 16, a kid is old enough to make their own decisions about piercings.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    I took my daughter when she turned 16. I also took her best friend (with the girls' mother's permission) at the same time.

    Neither of these girls is trashy. I vaccilated as to whether I liked the idea or not, but if they tire of it, the hole will not be visible. Both girls are 20 now. thet're still not trashy.
  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
    I had mine pierced when I was 17 after a very heated debate with my dad. I grew up in Florida, and had plenty of opportunity to show it off. I was paying for it with my own money and my mom was willing to sign for it. He agreed after a lot of yelling between the 2 of us. I went and had it pierced, then took it out when I was pregnant with my daughter. I didn't know back then that they had bars I could wear while pregnant. I would have never taken it out otherwise. I loved it!

    That being said, should my daughter come to me asking if she could have one when she is 14, my answer would be no. When she is a little older, I would still be leery, but I wouldn't stop her. As others have said, there are sexual connotations even if we don't agree that there should be,