Why I Got My Nipples Pierced

“My short skirt is NONE of your business.” -The girl in the Vagina Monologues who changed my life.  

This quote seems like a no-brainer, and I think most women feel this way, but it was one of those weird moments where a feeling you have gets verbalized by another person and something magic clicks inside of you.  It’s that “Aha!” moment that sends you through the atmosphere on a wave of “I WAS right!” and maybe even convinces you to get your nipples pierced.  

I had thought about getting my nipples pierced for a couple of months before this moment because a lot of people I knew were getting them done and I liked the way they looked.  My only real qualm about it was the fear that guys I would sleep with would think it was weird or trashy. Then, sitting in the Vagina Monologues, one of the women yelled, “My short skirt is NONE of your business,” and I pretty much immediately made my appointment to pierce my nipples.  

My awakening went like this:

Okay. This is MY body. It has always empowered me to take care and control of my own body, whether this meant making my own doctor’s appointments, getting a Brazilian wax, not shaving my legs, or eventually piercing my nipples.  It’s empowering because your body is the one thing on this earth that is only yours- doing what you truly want with it is learning how to utilize an incredible asset.

What I truly wanted was pierced nipples.  I didn’t want them to turn guys on, I didn’t want them to make sex more interesting, and I really did not want them to show through my clothes.  

I wanted them because every day I put on a big comfy sweater or a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, boots, and my hair is in a bun when I go to class wearing glasses, working hard, usually with my nose in a book wearing headphones, and I don’t talk to people.  Despite how not-mainstream-sexy this is, I am a woman and I am sexy at all times by virtue of that alone.

All people are multifaceted in this way.  You can look at any person on the street, and guess what? They are a sexual human, whatever that means to them.  My sexuality- everyone’s, actually- is not contingent upon any person other than myself, and my nipple piercings are a reminder every day that the only thing I need to be sexy is me. They are a constant reminder of my undeniable womanness and of the fact that nobody else needs to see it or react to it for it to be there, and yes, that is something that empowers me.  

Of course there are several other ways to remind yourself of your sexuality or empower yourself on a daily basis, and maybe you’re an amazing type of person who can do that without a physical reminder, and that’s awesome and I am proud of you.  

I wanted the physical reminder.  I now have it.  I walk taller, I exude more confidence, and I feel fierce AF.  I wanted something that was my little secret between my body and myself and this is it.  

You can call me trashy, you could even call me slutty if you want- but at the end of the day, my pierced nipples are none of your business.  

Cover Image Source  

• empowerment
• feminism
• nipples
• piercing