September 27, 2004

Curious George: Earrings on Men - both ears? one ear? What is more 'preferred' or 'accepted' for men (in the USA) - both ears or single ear piercing?

Is there actually 'symbolism' in the piercings as this page claims?

Earrings worn by the male are not without meaning. The earring in the right ear only, identifies the homosexual; the left ear only, a male stud or fornicator, and both ears, a bi-sexual person (some say).
Does anybody really believe that stuff?
Also, what is 'usual' in other parts of the world?
(And while I'm at it, what is with the current trend in Captive Bead Rings(CBRs)? Is it just trendy? It is a part of piercing culture? Or does the CBR signify something when worn instead of any other sort of earring?)
posted by Bax 20 years ago
  • I believed in the right or left ear stuff when I was in grade school. :) Now I have both ears pierced and am a male. Started with the mall standards but have since stretched them to 16 guage (which isn't very big) and have CBRs in each ear. Why CBRs? Well, I really like them. I love metal rings. I have silver rings on my hands as well as I've always detested the color of gold. I don't think they have a signifigance other than perhaps familiarity with piercing in general. Of course I also have a studded black leather jacket, so take it with a grain of salt. :)
  • That stuff may have been true once upon a time, but I haven't heard anyone say anything about the ear it is in mattering since I was in junior high.
  • I don't think most people in the US pay any attention to, or even necessarily know about, the left-ear/right-ear thing anymore. When I pierced my husband's ear I never even thought about it, just picked one randomly. I get the impression that if a man pierces both ears, though, some people will assume he is either gay or bi. Some won't. My brother has both ears pierced; he's bi.
  • I wear a coat hanger through my trachea. It means I'm cool.
  • It may depend on where you live, however. It seems to me that the left-right sybolism is still hanging on in the south. Among the many pierced guys I know, all the straight guys have left or both, while all the gay guys have right or both. And it's getting more common for redneck biker types to pierce both ears with pirate rings. Arrr! I had a CBR in the top of my left ear for several years until it started getting infected, and never heard of any special symbolism associated with it. I just like rings better.
  • Here in San Francisco there's all sorts of coded messaging broadcast by one's accessories. But men with pierced ears? *Yawn.*
  • Personally, I think a single stud in a guy's ear looks really dated. I like it when both are pierced with CBRs or round barbells or something like that. Even that is starting to feel a bit "late-90's" to me, though. I'm rusty on my piercing history, but I think CBRs in use today came about as a reaction to the crappy piercing studs that were infecting ears in every mall in America. You could autoclave them for sterility, they were usually stainless steel and so didn't cause a reaction, and it was easier to clean them. Then, when professional piercing went mainstream, everyone had them. I don't think they have any particular meaning except familiarity with the culture. I'm sure some people thinks it makes them look hardcore. It's funny though...a few months ago I was looking at regular, dangly-type earrings at a store and wishing I had my ears pierced so I could wear some. Then I realized that I do have my ears pierced, and it felt wrong to consider removing the CBRs to put in something frilly.
  • ambrosia: such as?
  • I have never heard of the left ear or both ears meaning anything in particular. But yeah the right ear means you're gay. I think everyone still knows that, the only guys I see with right-ear-only are obviously gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
  • The right/gay left/straight thing might be obsolete now, but it's still worth keeping in mind. I know plenty of perfectly straight guys with (multiple) piercings in both ears.
  • In my observations of men I've known, the "right=gay" has been quite accurate. And left or both or multiples do not indicate anything. I did learn this in grade school, but I learned a lot of stuff in grade school. :) Maybe it is a regional thing.
  • Here is used to be left ear only for men. I'm not sure what the accepted "rule" is anymore. Personally I think it's ridiculous to apply that "logic" to anything such as an earring in the right ear. Like don't wear white after Labour Day. Single women with cats are witches etc. "rules" like these are only meant to be broken. As rxreed pointed out and cabingirl hinted at there is a whole gay subculture that ties meanings to hankerchiefs, Vancouver uses those symbols as well. I was wearing a hankerchief (black or purple if I recall) in the late 80's in my back pocket, didn't carry a purse at the time, seemed a logical place to put it. A friend gave me the the history of the different meanings and was semi-shocked when I didn't move it to another pocket after I heard what it meant. All I could think was, "I like ___ because I wear a purple banadana in my back pocket - oh please! (insert eyeroll here)
  • 5{ -- good point about white after Labor Day; I ABHOR that rule and break it whenever I possibly can. So, yeah, wear whatever, wherever. :D Just be prepared for what at least part of "society" will think. (Whether you care or not!)
  • 5{ -- good point about white after Labor Day; I ABHOR that rule and break it whenever I possibly can. So, yeah, wear whatever, wherever. :D Just be prepared for what at least part of "society" will think. (Whether you care or not!)
  • cripes! Not sure what happened with beeza's bolded name turning into that five thingy, or how I managed to double post. What WILL society think!
  • iguanapolitico: perhaps you were stuttering in another language? ;)
  • lol bernockle
  • Good grief, anyone still buying into the notion of these codes is hopelessly lost in some distant past (in which many, many people didn't follow the 'rules' for these codes at all). Take a look around you and you'll know that piercings mean only one thing: the wearer likes having jewellery. Are the people who still fall for this nonsense next going to advocate that a rose-coloured petticoat indicates a desire for lemonade enemas, or that chimneysweeps with unkempt brooms are eager for consumption sufferers to eat porridge from their jodhpurs?
  • I'm in SoCal, so take it with a bit of salt, but I don't think the left/right earring thing has meant anything for awhile. FWIW, a guy I'm seeing now has both ears pierced and I take it on fairly good authority that he's not bi. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :D
  • ...and coppermac just completely cracked me up.
  • Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, jodhpurs with porridge and lemonade enemas, rose-coloured petticoats tied up with string these are a few of my favorite things. When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feelin' sad, I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad. apologies to Julie Andrews et al.
  • Kittens with enemas? Roses with porridge?! My dear lad, I'm going to have to revoke your poetic license!
  • Are the people who still fall for this nonsense next going to advocate that a rose-coloured petticoat indicates a desire for lemonade enemas, or that chimneysweeps with unkempt brooms are eager for consumption sufferers to eat porridge from their jodhpurs? Well, there's always Spanish fan language.