Piercing is the most widely practiced form of body modification, especially among females. Earlobes are generality the earliest body part that girls get pierced, and many parents endorse ear piercings or even expect their daughters to have pierced ears. Often, parents pierce their daughters' ears in infancy, perhaps as a way to feminize female babies, whose gendered physical appearance is still ambiguous. The timing of ear piercing can often be influenced by a family’s culture or traditions.
Ear piercing is an ancient cosmetic practice, which like other practices such as tattoos have existed for the past 5000 years. In ancient Rome, for instance, earrings were worn only by slaves whereas in ancient Greece they were the ornament of prostitutes. In addition, wealthy Greek and Roman women wore earrings set with pearls to exhibit their social status. It is interesting to note that earrings are worn not only by females but also by their male counterparts.
The oldest mummified body to be found with pierced ears and expanded earlobes (7-11mm in diameter) was found frozen in an Austrian Glacier, and tests show it to be over 5,000 years old.
Ear piercing culture
