The body is a temple to be
worshipped and adored, and also adorned. In this era dubbed
the 'norties' or the 'naughties' it is very fashionable for
much of our youth to be adorned with rings, balls and
gemstones both above and below their clothing, with not one,
but several piercings. The trend isn't limited to the young
either.
Many thousands of men and women
all over the globe in their thirties, forties and fifties have
had some form of genital piercing. "It's my own special
secret!" as one cheeky lady told me. Body piercing harks
back many centuries, but the trend as we know it now started
in the mid to late seventies in the San Francisco gay leather
S&M scene. During the late seventies body piercing became
popular among punks in the USA and the UK.
Body piercing essentially
remained underground practice until the early nineties by
which time it became popular in many musical sub-cultures and
began to appearing in music videos, on television talk shows
and, most unexpectedly, on fashion catwalks, by high class and
exciting looking models both male and female.
Body piercing should always be
done by a Body Piercing Specialist, operating within the
regulations of the responsible local government agencies.
So why do men want to get
pierced?
The motivations often include
one or more of the following reasons:
- For aesthetics, the look.
- For sensual pleasure, sensual play or adding sensation.
- To mark a special event in one's life
- As a symbol of commitment in a relationship.
- As a symbol of possession or for chastity [eg: in an S&M
relationship]
- As a means or signifier of reclamation [eg: as an abuse
survivor]
Some people endure the piercing
process for the final result. Others enjoy the process or
enjoy the sensation.
The pain releases endorphins,
the body's own pain killers, which some people find a
pleasurable effect of piercing.
Whether it is for you, or not
for you, in the next issues of SAGazette, we'll be giving you
some interesting facts on the specialised art of male genital
piercing. You'll learn about the different types of male
genital piercing, technical aspects of piercing and how it
affects sexual activity for both the man and his partner.
