What ear is the gay ear to get pierced

Which ear is the gay ear? Read more for the truth behind the complicated history of the gay ear concept. No one really seems to know where the adage originated. China has since banned men's earrings outright. But the whole "gay ear" thing has always been ironic, considering its ever-changing position throughout history.

These days, seldom does a cool piercing trend stick around for longer than a few weeks before a neologism replaces the one before it, permeating the halls of TikTok or Instagram and causing all of us to second-guess what was once considered mainstream — only to then swap a coveted wardrobe staple for the latest passing fad.

Yet further findings, like the fact that "mono earring" queries are popular, suggest many are curious about different types of piercingsspecifically embellishing one ear only — proof that a single earring, and which lobe it lives oncan say everything or nothing at all.

Even today, one of the most unshakeable cultural signifiers has been the "mono" piercing — more precisely, and befuddling, on which ear it's placed and what it says about your sexuality. A article in The New York Times perpetuating the stereotype seemed to solidify the historical hearsay as the widely known style taboo many can't quit today.

Eyebrowsnoses, tongues, nipplesand belly buttons would soon become even louder ways to make a statement. If a heterosexual is performing a right side ear piercing then he may be considered as getting his gay ear pierced. No longer is it that big of a deal that a cisgender, occasionally heterosexual man wears jewelry — not even those flashy beaded bracelets.

Casting director and industry stalwart James Scully remembers his first encounter with the phenomenon, in the late '70s. You might recall hearing that if a man wore an earring on the right ear, that meant he was gay.

Any piercing during that time, Scully insists, would have been an act of defiance anyway — pre- or postpunk era. The right ear of the human body is usually termed a gay ear in the US because this right ear is most preferably used by homosexuals in ear piercing that signifies a man as gay.

Pre-Y2K and beyondit's been socially understood that wearing one earring on the right ear means someone is gay; the left, straight. Coleman and Theo Sandfort discuss the fact that straight Russian men would often mark their first sexual act with women by piercing their right ear as a way to ward off unwanted advances from gay men.

This stems from old cultural stereotypes linking earring placement with sexual orientation. Or which side means what. Still, certain exceptions prevail. On current rotation, Scully posits, is the septum piercing : equal parts rejection and an invitation, rooted in pleasure and pain.

The straight guy performs left-side ear piercing to show that they are not gay. And according to ancient Chinese belief, the left earring meaning also symbolized that a person's life had been endangered, and to prevent a recurrence, an earring was worn to prevent bad luck.

It was once even more vogue, and still is, to have multiple piercings in one ear. Clean, etc. Traditionally, gay cruising madison right ear is considered the “gay ear” for earrings.

Which ear is the gay ear, left or right earring? Yet it helped earlier generations of queer people find each other in the crowd. Ear piercing is the. It's true, though, that " dropping a hairpin " — the precursor to signaling a way to drop a subtle hint to someone that you, too, were gay — was both harmful and helpful.

It is, however, a uniquely American conundrum. Despite recent data and celebrities supporting otherwise, the demagogic proverb "Left is right and right is wrong" has been a whisper placed upon gay and straight men and their piercers for decades.

At the same time, the left ear is straight. In fact, most royals were adorned in as many gems and as much gold as women — if not more, depending on the occasion — making the sight of guys wearing pearls today, for instance, more a reflection of where we've come from than where we're headed.

The concept of men wearing jewelry is an old one, dating back thousands of years. For men, this myth historically claimed a piercing in the right ear meant they were gay, while the left ear was for straight men. Find men's jewelry trends here!.

Lyst, a company that tracks online shoppers' behavior, claims searches for men's earrings rose by percent from to see: Lil Nas X, Jared Leto, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny. The "gay ear" myth is an outdated stereotype that a piercing in a specific ear indicates a person’s sexual orientation.