Why more people are opting for a piercing in middle age

On the verge of a midlife crisis? There’s a piercing for that, writes Mary Cate Smith

A model with a piercing from the Danish-Irish

A spate of luxury piercing bars are popping up in some of the hippest department stores – the latest is a pop up today at cutting edge Cork boutique, Samui – and reportedly, its fastest-growing cohort is women in middle age. Over the past decade, women have fought for and reclaimed bodily autonomy and the curated ear is yet another step in that direction. While piercing has finally embedded itself in mainstream culture, it has had to shed centuries worth of loaded associations, some of them not so savoury.

The history of hole-making is not just rooted in aesthetics; in some cases, piercing has been performed for ritualistic reasons, as a rite of passage or to exert control over the subject’s body. In ancient Rome, nipple piercings signified virility while penis piercings were thought to deter slaves from procreating and enhance athletes’ performances. The festival of Gajan or Shivagajan in West Bengal revolves around bodily piercings that are limited to men who suspend themselves from iron rods. The reason? To gain contact with Hindu deities like Shiva and pray for their crops to flourish.