Our eldest daughter started her freshman year of college last week. Her first act of pseudo-independence was to get her belly button pierced the night that we moved her into her dorm. She turned 18 last month, and DH and I respect her right to make her own choices regarding her body.
However, our 15-year-old daughter is now emboldened by her sister. She also wants a belly-button ring but is not keen on waiting until college. I'm not sure how, but navel piercing has become somewhat standard for girls in high school. (DD currently has only her earlobes pierced.) We don't live in Utah. We've taught them our values, but our kids haven't grown up in that culture. The reality of the situation is that nearly all of DD's friends are non-LDS. And most of these girls have pierced belly buttons. I know well these girls my daughter associates with; they honor their parents, go to church, respect the community, do well in school, play sports and volunteer. They just happen to have a little jewel in their tummies. They don't at all adhere to the negative stereotypes of "teens with piercings." I know that having a belly-button ring would not affect DD's impeccable character. The overprotective mom in me answered her initial request: "Wait until you're 18." But after having given it some thought, I would be willing to sign the necessary forms to allow her to get her belly button pierced.
DH disagrees. He believes girls with belly rings are over-sexualized and fears subjecting DD to that. (Side note: We don't restrict our girls from showing their midriffs. It's the 21st century. They wear bikinis and crop tops. As such, DD15's belly ring would regularly be "shown off.") DH thinks all piercings are trashy, for lack of a better word.
According to DD, getting your belly button pierced is a rite of passage. She likens it to having pierced ears nowadays. I'm relieved that she doesn't want her nose or tongue (or nipples! 😱) pierced like some of her peers. We've had a talk with her about the extensive healing process and the responsibility required to stave off infection. She is mature enough to know that the piercing could attract the wrong kind of attention and change the way people perceive her -- as unfair as that might be. And she accepts the long-term consequences of having a possibly never-healing hole on her belly.
I'm interested in y'all's thoughts. Have any of you given permission for a belly-button ring?
