Rites of Passage?

For some, genital piercing has a spiritual component. Some piercing devotees can get a little fuzzy and mystical on you when they start talking about piercing, lamenting the loss of ancient "rites of passage" in our dysfunctional modern society. Of course, we do have rites of passage in our society -- dressing up in a gown and mortarboard and getting a diploma, for instance -- and genital piercing never had symbolic meaning for most cultures. Besides, a rite of passage is usually a ceremony sanctioned and enforced by a person's society. Some might argue that a do-it-yourself rite of passage lacks this social context and could be considered the equivalent of making a diploma out of construction paper and crayons -- it might mean something to you, but it doesn't have any inherent significance to anyone else.

But this is precisely the point: for some, a piercing is imbued with individual meaning.

"People can and do use piercing to mark events," says Angel. "I have pierced people to mark everything -- births, deaths, anniversaries, graduations, clean and sober time, and reclaiming the body after childbirth."

After conducting research into piercing, Stirn agrees. "What struck me the most is that each piercee seems to have a story to tell," she says. "All of them seem to do it for a reason of which fashion seems to be the least important."

Stirn is particularly interested in how some women who have been sexually abused will use genital piercing therapeutically, and she is currently researching the subject further.

"In some of these cases, experiencing the pain of metal struck through private parts serves as a liberation of the formerly felt emotional pain," says Stirn. She believes that for some, piercing can mark a way of "reclaiming" body parts from memories of abuse.

The Risks

Of course, there are risks to genital piercing, just as there are risks with any kind of piercing. What's tricky is that the degree of risk isn't really known, since piercing has proved to be a difficult practice to study.

"The possible variety of side effects is yet to be discovered," says Stirn, "and they will increase with the number of people getting pierced."

The most common side effect of piercing is infection, which can often be prevented by conscientious aftercare practices and good hygiene. However, infection should not be considered insignificant; it can spread and cause serious health problems, including sterility and potentially life-threatening conditions. If equipment isn't being sterilized at a piercing studio, the procedure has the potential to pass on any number of diseases, including leprosy, tetanus, tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, and other STDs.

Genital piercings do pose some distinct risks of their own. More invasive kinds of piercing, such as a piercing that runs through the head of the penis, should only be done by experienced piercers if by anyone at all, according to Stirn. Such piercings can result in serious bleeding and "the risk of impotence caused by hitting the erectile tissue by mistake is simply too high," she says. Piercing the clitoris itself, rather than the clitoral hood, is also a potentially risky procedure. Some genital piercings can result in scars or a narrowing of the urethra.