When we were kids I was allowed to get my ears pierced when I was seven. Then, when I was fourteen, I gave myself three more piercings which I truly love and do not regret even a little.
Now my brother, who is a bit younger than me, asked to get his ears pierced when he was nine, and our dad said "no, not until you're 18", which I argued with, because it was straight up hypocrisy and entirely a gender-based call.
So I very loudly and openly offered that if my brother wanted his ears pierced but wasn't allowed to go to a piercer, then I would do it for him.
And after a very long and one-sided argument over this at the dinner table, dad finally said, "Enough. We're done talking about this. Why do you want to stab holes in your brother so bad?"
And I said, "I don't. You just won't let him see a professional"
He decided to just wear fakes in the end, but my point stands:
Our dad thought that "Does my body belong to me?" Was a yes or no question, and he said "No."
What I thought, and what I still think, is this:
"Do I own my own body?"
"Yes", in a safe way, and "Yes" in a dangerous way.
If someone truly wants to do something to their body, then they're going to do it, and you can either provide them with the resources to do it safely or you can watch them do it badly on their own without you.
My dad's not gonna fuck you
He's not gonna fuck you, either
