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Piercing (Shhhh...) Behind My Parent's Back
Listen to this Commentary!
Rachel Spekman
It's been four years since I got a belly button ring, but my parents just noticed it for the first time. They weren't happy. I wouldn't call myself a punk or a bad kid. I'm responsible in the choices I've made as a thoughtful young woman. I'm athletic. I get good grades, and I'm active in many extracurricular activities. So I feel that I am mature enough to decide how I want to express myself. The bottom line is, the belly button ring was something I just thought would look cute.
The problem is, my father believes that piercing is mutilation of the body. So I didn't tell my parents when my best friend and I got on the train to Penn Station, New York a month ago to put a hole in my nose. Among the street vendors and sun-glass huts stood the body-piercing store. The flickering neon light in the window made me a little nervous, but inside it was a clean jewelry store.
The piercer assured me he knew exactly what he was doing and asked if I was positive I wanted this. Before I knew it, slap! The glove was on and the needle in hand. He dotted a spot on my nose and swabbed the needle with alcohol once more. With my eyes glued shut, I squeezed my friend's hand and let out a faint "yelp!" as the needle punctured my skin. When it was over, I smiled triumphantly at my new, shiny diamond stud nose-ring.
All I had to do was tell my parents…Another "yelp" was on its way. It was just like before: hands flying in the air, dinner getting cold, and the accusation that I had done this to spite my mom and dad. My father was disgusted and disappointed. He preached that the hole in my nose was irrevocable.
I reasoned that it was only a hole-it would heal over eventually. I told them: this body piercing is a reflection of who I am. I got it for purely selfish reasons. I thought it would look cute. My mom screamed that teachers and adults would look at me differently. I said they had no other choice but to love me for who I am, and not what body holes I have. Unable to argue anymore, they agreed. But I must admit, my parents' warnings about how adults would judge my piercings plagued my mind.
The very next day, I had a college interview, and I caught the interviewer glaring at my nose. Wishing for a split second that I hadn't gotten the nose ring, or that society wouldn't stigmatize me as a "bad kid" because I have a piercing, I quickly went to cover the little speck on my nose. I felt extremely apprehensive, but the interview continued. I still don't know what the interviewer thought of my nose ring, but I know she thought something.
Undeniably, there's a generation gap between my parents, my college interviewers, my teachers and me and my friends. But no matter what adults think of piercings, I am mature enough to get a nose ring and I am strong enough to face the consequences. I smile when I look in the mirror, knowing that I look cute-and more than anything, my nose ring has become a part of me.
I'm Rachel Spekman.
Host Back Announce: Rachel Spekman comes to us from Youth Radio New Jersey, a collaboration between Columbia High School, WBGO FM, and Youth Radio in Berkeley, California.
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