4 ms·
Should we also ban the piercing of infant ears?
by ythn 9y ago
Should we also ban the piercing of infant ears?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Boothroid 9y agoProbably, yes.
- ythn 9y agoGood, as long as you are morally consistent. I can't stand the hypocrisy of people that claim it's evil to circumcise your son but not evil to have your daughter's ears pierced.
- InitialLastName 9y agoI agree with you that infants shouldn't have their ears pierced, but let's all acknowledge that moral consistency can be allowed to draw a line somewhere below "permanent, irreparable damage that reduces function."
- 0xbadcafebee 9y agoWhy the hell would someone pierce an infant's ears???
- amscanne 9y agoThis is very common in Latin American cultures. In Mexico, they literally do it at the hospital before you leave. (They don't do this in the U.S., but a good portion of Latin Americans - I'd wager majority - will get it done at six months.)
- grandalf 9y agoWhile I would not do it to an infant, it's not a sex organ and will restore to fully healed/closed status if left alone for a few weeks, so it's hard to compare this to removing part of a sex organ that will not re-grow.
- RightMillennial 9y agoPlease, it's a little bit of skin. As with any other trivial procedure, as long as it is properly performed there are no adverse side effects.
- logfromblammo 9y agoThe same argument could be used to support giving all infants face tattoos at the hospital.
- logfromblammo 9y agoIn for a penny; in for a pound. The principle is the same. The hospital should not be doing so much as trimming a fingernail of any patient incapable of giving informed consent, in the absence of a true medical necessity. In the case of the ear-piercings, it is likely that the local cultural landscape is such that if the procedure is not performed in a sterile and controlled environment, by professional medical personnel, at the hospital, it would be done by amateurs at home. The medical necessity there may be the significant probability of botched, infected piercings. As a public health strategy, it isn't bad. Do the piercings at the hospital for two generations, and then ramp up the out-of-pocket cost for it, while vilifying it with a PR campaign. Babies should still not be having their ears pierced, though. That is certainly of lesser severity than cutting off and throwing away more significant bits of the baby, leaving a permanent, visible scar there, but it is on the same spectrum. You are performing unnecessary procedures on a patient that cannot give consent.
- amscanne 9y ago> The principle is the same. The hospital should not be doing so much as trimming a fingernail of any patient incapable of giving informed consent, in the absence of a true medical necessity. Do you have a child? Would you not trim their fingernails? Obviously you would, because you consent on their behalf. Same deal with the piercing; the Hospital obviously doesn't do it without the parents' consent.
- GordonS 9y agoIt's very common in India.
- jazzyk 9y agoThere is no reason to pierce infant's ears. It can be easily done when one gets older. But your comparison is flawed, because pierced ear holes, if not filled, will easily heal over time, while the circumcision is non-reversible (foreskin will never grow back).
- callesgg 9y agoYes if it is leagal then yes, i dont think i have ever seen that in my country.
- LeeHwang 9y agoExcept piercing ears is not a sex organ. This seems like an attempt to deflect from what circumcision actually is : genital mutilation. Genital mutilation is not okay for girls or boys.
- jacknews 9y agoprobably yes - but the fundamental difference is that earlobes are entirely non-functinal, unlike foreskins. https://www.google.com.kh/search?q=circumcision+damage https://www.google.com.kh/search?q=circumcision+damage
- sctb 9y agoWe detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14292132 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14292132 and marked it off-topic.
- GordonS 9y agoAbsolutely, yes. I've honestly never understood why on earth parents would do this to their children, rather than letting them make the choice for themselves when they reach adulthood.