I have not always been concerned with quality body jewelry. As a new piercer in the 1990s, I was interested in being a part of someone's transformative experience, but also being able to support myself with my new occupation. I had sacrificed a much better paying job and it cost me a good deal of money for my apprenticeship to learn to be a piercer. I needed to be able to focus on my new life without having to make ends meet in other industries. As a relatively unknown piercer I thought my pricing needed to be competitive to help build my clientele. And to be honest I simply did not have the knowledge or experience to know why jewelry quality was so important. Times were different and it simply was not a part of my apprenticeship training. In fact, I did not start using quality jewelry until about six years into my piercing career. It took that long for me to actually seek out the education that could explain the chemistry and molecular importance of proper metal standards. Many of the world's best piercers would probably have a similar story to tell. The most unfortunate part about it is that most piercers worldwide are stuck in that same mentality to this day.
There seems to be a plethora of reasons those piercers predominantly use crummy novelty pieces instead of what I refer to as quality jewelry. Let's be honest, what I'm calling quality jewelry should really be the "standard". We should be viewing internally threaded, implant grade, hand polished jewelry as the norm. Instead so many piercers use jewelry that is sub-par, that the average consumer has come to expect novelty pieces. They believe the junk is the standard, and is safe and acceptable (despite there being quite a bit of scientific evidence otherwise), and it is hard for them to tell the difference with the naked eye unless someone has taken the time to educate them. And of course unless they have been receptive to that education. This is why I view my role in life as that of an "ambassador" for the modification community to the more vanilla members of society. Not only do I want them to have good interactions with modified people so they feel comfortable accepting us in work places and other areas of life, but I want them to feel receptive to any outreach or educational possibilities. Even if someone seems to never have a desire to get pierced themselves, you can bet someone close to them does. Education carries on even if indirectly. I sincerely thank every piercer, client, friend, and family member who welcome those seemingly annoying interactions as a chance to carry the torch of ambassadorship. It is not always at the most convenient time that someone asks you if your piercings hurt, but it can sometimes be the most transforming for that person depending on how you approach the interaction.
The way I see it, piercers get stuck in a rut of using crap jewelry for several reasons (often completely oblivious): Fear of change, poor mentoring, low self opinion, blind subservience, and lack of education. I can say this without casting judgement, because I lived it myself for six whole years. And quite honestly I choose to believe these are the reasons because anything else seems to point to gross negligence. Honestly, I don't want to believe anyone in this beloved industry has knowingly chosen poor quality jewelry for their clients, to put profit before safety and ignore science. So let's take a moment to explore these slightly more acceptable reasons together.
Many of us are creatures of habit. We don't often welcome changes in our accepted routines. The same can be said for some piercers. In some cases using quality jewelry may require new skill sets or purchase of specialized tools in order to get similar results when switching to a new style of jewelry. Internally threaded jewelry for instance, sometimes requires more finesse to insert into the piercing or to thread small beads on. Without a full commitment to change and time for adaptation, the piercer may find the new jewelry frustrating and just abandon it altogether. The important thing to keep in mind is that proper internally threaded jewelry forms a water tight seal and is less traumatic to tissue on entrance and exit. It is well worth the investment to learn and overcome the differences in practical use as they are minimal anyway.
Sometimes the fear of change can lead to or exist simultaneously with a low self opinion. If a piercer is already unsure of some of their abilities, trying to better themselves can be a challenge that ends up making them feel out of their league. As with many things, a lot of obstacles are simply overcome with training and practice. It is hard to swallow your pride and seek this help when your very essence of survival as a piercer relies on the confidence you portray to your client. Many piercers avoid interactions with more skilled who they could learn from simply because they are worried they will be judged by their peers or worse, walk away feeling even more enlightened than when they arrived. There's an old saying that has stuck with me most of my life, "the smarter you are; the dumber you are." In other words enlightenment often exposes just how out of touch we are. Introspection at these times is crucial for self growth.
Apprenticeships are the foundation of a piercer's career. Habits are formed and learned that can be hard to break. If they are good habits this is for the better. If they are poor habits it can really set a future piercer up for potential failure. It can specifically set them up for the failure to evolve or grow within their chosen career path. Everybody wants to be good at what they do. Most people strive to constantly excel. Whether it is the junior associate at a law firm, or the Junior Piercer at a studio, whether for job security and a raise, or to offer the cleanest, safest and most gentle procedure possible; I would venture to say none of us want to perform poorly or become stagnant. This is why obtaining the best apprenticeship with the best guidance is absolutely crucial. It is also why those like myself - who feel there is more to learn than what their apprenticeship held - need to constantly pursue avenues of continuing education. Having a poor mentor, whether they are otherwise too occupied to give you much guidance or whether they themselves are not fully educated on the important issues, is no excuse to keep you from being the phenomenal piercer you know you can be. Blindly following one leader whose ego keeps you from progressing is a sure red flag to find better avenues of learning. The education is available these days at trade shows like the Association of Professional Piercers Annual Conference in Las Vegas, through focused classes like Fakir Intensives workshops, and in a much smaller form through social media formats like industry forums on Facebook and the like. But what is even more overwhelmingly awesome, is the generosity and caring of reputable piercers the world over who would gladly volunteer their time to meet up and help other piercers understand the difference in jewelry quality. Jewelry is just one small component in what we do but you better believe, ignoring jewelry quality as a piercer is ignoring the safety and comfort of your clients and their piercing experience. If you are a piercer or a piercing enthusiast who would like more information on safe body jewelry standards, please feel free to email me at anomalyart@gmail.com. And also, check out the APP website at safepiercing.org.
Wado (Thank You)
-Brett Perkins
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