Gender Differences among Self-Reported Genital Piercing Stories

• In Event: 080 - Regular Session. Sociology of the Body: "Natural" vs. "Artificial" Bodies

Abstract

Through content analysis of a rich qualitative dataset of 484 self-reported genital piercing stories, we investigate how women and men who have recently acquired genital piercings articulate their motivations, planning, experience, and assessment of these piercings. We find that in contrast to prior literature, both women and men frame their stories not in terms of pathology, deviance, or cultural resistance, but rather in terms of a straightforward emphasis on participating in mainstream body-decoration culture. We further find that in an additional contrast to prior literature, there is no indication that either women or men perceive their genital piercing as challenging traditional gender and sexual norms. We instead argue that the significant differences in the ways that women and men talk about their genital piercings point to the fact that such piercings largely reinforce and actually validate these traditional norms.

Authors

• Jeremy N. Thomas, Idaho State University

• Lauren Crosby, Idaho State University

• Jessica Milford, Idaho State University