Which side means your gay with piercings

However, that's old news. Earrings on guys have signified many things over the years, such as social stature or religious affiliation. From what I've gathered, there was a time when piercing your left ear was a discreet signal among men to indicate that they were gay. At first it was assumed that the wearers were all effeminate homosexuals, but it soon became clear the the habit was spreading to the more avant-garde of the young heterosexuals.

Explore the historical significance of choosing a specific side for a gay earring. This led to some confusion and stories began to circulate that there was a secret code, that to wear an earring in a pierced left ear was homosexual, and in a pierced right ear was rebel heterosexual.

Another guy got two piercings in his right ear in college, to which we all remarked that that he wanted everyone to know that he was a power bottom — which he is. Get styling tips to integrate the gay earring into modern fashion sensibilities. These days, fashion and its meanings are fluid.

In the Western world, earrings, so long a purely female adornment, have recently been seen on increasing numbers of male ears. A man in the U. If it were in my right ear, that would mean I was gay. Some time after that, of course, I made peace with the fact that I am gay.

In his book The Naked Man: A Study of the Male Body , Desmond Morris explains that earrings have indicated wisdom and compassion in the stretched earlobes of the Buddha, while pirates wore them in the belief it would protect them from drowning. More Stories from MEL.

Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within. What does Generation Z think of the whole gay code? And in the 20th century, people got confused about which ear meant what: In the Western world, earrings, so long a purely female adornment, have recently been seen on increasing numbers of male ears.

In the Elizabethan era, earrings were quite fashionable for men, he writes. Historically speaking, the truth is more complex. A piercing in the left ear doesn’t really signal anything at all, although you might interpret it as “I really don’t want anyone to think I’m gay.” (Which, admittedly, is an important signal to pick up on.).

We accepted it as gospel and never questioned its validity. In the end the male earring lost its sexual significance altogether, and simply became a generalized way of annoying middle-aged, latter-day puritans. But as I grew up, it seemed like everyone I met, no matter their place of origin, knew and understood the earring code, as arbitrary as it seems.

However, earrings have also sparked debates over sexual identity, such as the concept of which ear is the gay ear, leading to stigmas over the left and right piercing. Uncover how this accessory acts as a badge of identity and expression today. The concept of which ear is the gay ear doesn't hold the same implication anymore.

The problem was that nobody could remember which was supposed to be which.