Modern Day Body Play

The piercing industry has gone through a great many iterations over the years. From earlobe piercings done at home by grandmothers and aunts, to the flourish of queer BDSM and leather piercing in the 70s and 80s, and the exploration of extreme body modification in the 90’s and 00s all the way to the modern gold and diamond-covered ears. Many who have been in this industry through its changes lament a loss of some of the magic that made piercing unique back in the day. In the 80’s and 90s, before the internet, when mailers and zines were the best method of information and education. When piercing was more deeply intertwined with kink, spirituality, body play, and self-exploration. Where someone could talk about piercing themselves dozens of times at home with sewing needles, and the response wasn’t “eww gross” but rather “wow, cool! What did you use- and why did you want to do that?”

Piercing back then had a far stronger element of body play, of using our flesh and blood to explore our sexuality, gender identity, sexual fantasies, cultural norms, and just to get weird and wild. The focus wasn’t necessarily on how clean we could be or the quality of the jewelry we used, but the way the piercings made us feel (although cleanliness and technique was still a factor). Was there a sense of euphoria at the touch of the needle? Did these piercings make us feel at home in our own skin? Was it sexy? The process of actually being pierced, the blood, and the sensations were as crucial a part of the experience as the end result. Piercing was transformative; it allowed us to be present in our bodies and use them to explore a deeper sense of self. Modern piercing in comparison, can seem very far removed from this. Sterile white piercing rooms, a focus on minimizing the actual process of being pierced. Certainly, you won’t see modern clients walking around a studio topless (or bottomless), showing off their new piercings with no small amount of pride.

Despite this, we are beginning to see a resurgence of this body play movement come into modern piercing. And just like in the 70s and 80s, it’s being spurred on by the LGBTQ community, who primarily practice this. Back then, it was gay men and lesbians in leather and motorcycle wear who were the driving force. Today, it’s trans and nonbinary youth who are embracing the process and act of piercings as a way to explore their bodies, sexualities, and experience navigating the world.

While I was too young too experience this time period in the industry, I grew up reading about it and seeing the last vestiges of it online before I was old enough to begin working in the industry. I experimented with play piercing in my own time, often in secret at home or after hours at the shop. I felt a bit isolated in this practice, and when I did talk to others, it was rare I felt I found a sensation of community and comradeship that existed online and in the magazines and mailers I collected and poured over. I can not pinpoint when exactly this changed, but sometime in the last few years, I felt a shift. I began to see more images of play piercings cropping up in online spaces. I had more interactions with clients discussing the spiritual, emotional, and erotic sides of body piercings. I met more and more people in the studio and in the industry who hesitantly shared the same secret acts of play piercings I had once done. I noticed that this shift had a clear direction- it was primarily younger queer folks who were exploring and embracing this side of body piercing.

“For me, body modification and my transition are inextricably connected. Before I even understood that what I was feeling was gender dysphoria, body modification gave me the ability to exert some amount of autonomy over my body. also, dysphoria manifests itself as a physical presence in my body. Before coming out, i would sob after getting pierced. not from pain, but because through the act of piercing, i felt something drain from my body that i couldn’t identify, so it was very intense and difficult to process. post transition, i still cry afterwards, but i can identify that entity leaving me as dysphoria. and much like having to inject estrogen weekly, slowly over time that entity regrows and i need to manage it through piercing or being tattooed every so often, though i find now there can be much longer stints before i need that release again. being on hrt (which in my opinion is the most radical modification i’ve undertaken) also helps keep that dysphoria growth in check too.

the flow is also two directional for me at least. transitioning has also directly informed my perspectives and proximity to body modification. it was reflecting on this last month when i hit a year of HRT that made me decide to develop a plan to leave my current career and pursue a piercing apprenticeship(which was a dream at 11 that i ignored, much like my gender), so that i can help facilitate what i’ve expected for others.” -Anonymous

Many trans folks describe piercings and tattoos as active parts of their transition. They describe the feeling of euphoria and more specifically, gender euphoria that comes with getting these modifications done. These are often clients who are as interested in the process of getting the piercing as they are the end result.

I must speculate about the similarities we are seeing in general social climate between the current industry and the 80’s and 90’s. Back then we were in the midst of the AIDS crisis, and public opinion of the LGBT community was at a low. It was a dangerous time to be queer, and many folks struggled between coming out and living an authentic life and remaining in the closet, safe but unsatisfied. We saw political witch hunts against queer folks, and as a community came together to protect and uplift each other. Now, we see a wave of anti-trans fear sweeping the country. The 2022 midterm elections are being campaigned heavily on Trans issues, much as political campaigns in the 80s ran on platforms about AIDS. We are seeing record numbers of murders of trans people, black trans women in particular. Trans folks are being painted as "monsters" for simply existing. As a community, we are suffering a different but still similar pivotal moment in time, where we have to come together against these attacks on our rights.

For our trans siblings, it is an especially difficult time. The process of actually transitioning is difficult enough and dangerous enough for many. Add to that the current political climate and the unbridled attacks on trans lives from politicians all over the country, and it is a frightening time to be trans.

Body Play has always been an outlet- a way to use our bodies to process emotions and feelings that our minds along can’t handle. Consider just the way an intense emotion can make you want to scream and yell, make you jump for joy, and dance. How anger can radiate through every nerve in your skin. We are often faced with emotions so large they seem to spill over from our mind into our bodies. And traditionally, piercing, tattooing, and other forms of body play have allowed us to help bring those emotions, thoughts, and feelings into our bodies. They give us a way to allow our bodies to help with the burden of everything we feel. The kiss of a needle can quiet even the most overactive mind, grant us a reprieve, even bring forth a moment of clarity.

“If I’m being honest it started with self-harm. I wasn’t even an angsty emo kid as a teen- I was pretty normal. But I would often get so upset or sad over these stupid little things. I used to take thumbtacks and safety pins and slide them under my skin, and watch the blood run around them. I told myself that since I wasn’t cutting myself it wasn’t the same thing- ha! Once I came out as gay, I felt a lot more comfortable, but I’d still have these moments where I was randomly so upset, and the only thing that calmed me down was meditating with that blood. I didn’t really “get it” till I came out as trans. I’ve been into BDSM since I was a teen, and I understand the connection between pain and pleasure, the way it turns my brain off and lets me just be. But the stuff at home was different.

Once I was out as a girl I realized that I’d been like…letting out the pressure with it. I like shoved all the dysphoria down inside me and when it was too much I would just bleed a little out at a time. It’s almost like I could bleed a little of the boy out every time haha.

I always loved tattoos and piercings and that was my outlet for a long time. You can’t exactly tell someone you like to stab yourself with thumbtacks for fun, but you can tell people you like tattoos. I want to get into play piercing, there’s something about it that’s just really comforting to me. “ -E

To be trans is to actively take part in your own creation. It means taking your mental, emotional, and physical self into your own hands and sculpting it into your own ideal form. But coming to terms with that and taking that step is a difficult one. Many of us struggle as children and teens with feeling out of place, feeling wrong. We can tell something about ourselves doesn’t fit but we can’t put our finger on what, or we don’t want to. We constantly struggle with a body that doesn’t feel like it belongs to us. When the source of so much of our struggle is the very skin we are in, it makes perfect sense that we would turn to that skin to process these emotions and to begin this journey of transformation.

“Feeling ownership of and belonging in your body is a constant struggle for lots of trans people. There's no such thing as being born in the wrong body, and you can only dream about a cis version of yourself before for so long before it kills you. Body mods are one of the few things that gives us a choice.” -Anonymous

“It's amazing how fears are overcome when someone honestly wants something badly enough. I have always been deadly afraid of needles, and yet when it comes time for my little painful hormone injection, I'm right on time. Surgery scares everybody, but what true trans- sexual wouldn't go through a sex change operation if only it were financially possible?

To one extent or another, every cross dresser must overcome fears: fear of being thought 'strange' when you buy women's under- clothing, the fear of being recognized, pointed at, discovered. Fear of rejection.

But if you want, if you really want, to own those under garments or to go somewhere dressed or to meet people, then you defy your fears and buy what you please, step through that door, and even risk rejection.

And after a while, you're no longer afraid.

What I wanted was rather simple: my ears pierced. “ From Jessie Collins, The Transvestite World No 41, 1971

As I delve more into documenting piercing history, with a focus on queer piercing history from the 70s-90s, I find myself more and more struck by the things that remain the same now as they did then. There is a coherent discussion among gender nonconforming folks of the way body modification is such an empowering, essential element of their experience of gender. And understanding how we experienced gender and sexuality with our bodies, it makes perfect sense that modifying our bodies is an extension of this gender expression. For those in the 70’s and 80’s all the way up to young queers now, body modification is often their first experience with true choice and agency over their bodies. It affords us the ability to choose, to take the first small steps into creating who we are and allowing our outsides to reflect our insides. This is a mentality surrounding body modification expressed by clients of all genders, orientations, and backgrounds. It resonates even stronger for those among us who are trans.

For trans folks, body modification and body play can extend past our usual definitions- many trans folks refer to taking HRT and getting gender affirming surgeries as forms of body modification and body play that they partake in. Where many of us may stop at piercing and tattooing ourselves in order to customize our skin, transgender folks are taking it a step further.

“Modifying my body with hormones, surgeries, working out to build muscle, cutting/dying my hair, stretching my lobes, piercings, and tattoos helped me feel like I sculpted my own body for myself. I no longer feel like a ghost, I've made my body my home with my modifications and working every day to keep it that way.” -Anonymous

“Is it lame if I say I started HRT for piercings? Well I did! I thought I was just going to get top surgery and be fine with everything else, until I saw someone at a fetish event who had the most amazing set of piercings down there. I loved everything she had and made an appointment a week later to start getting pierced- only to find out my anatomy didn’t really work for much. I started researching and decided to get on T in order to grow everything. I have 9 piercings now, and I think I want a few more. I ended up on T for 6 months before I was happy with all my growth and changes- and my piercings make me feel like more of a man then anything else.” -Ren

I can think of few things that embody the spirit of body play than someone going on hormones in order to change their body for the sole purpose of getting more piercings and body modifications. Someone who celebrates not just the end result but the entire process to make it happen- from weekly injections to actually getting and healing the piercings to stretching and enjoying them. The younger generation is exploring levels of body play and modification that we scarcely envisioned a few decades ago. And they do so with an irreverent casualness that seems at odds with the way they discuss the transformative euphoria these acts can provide. They are at once nonchalant, trading hormones for a few months at a time over a single piercing, but also wholly reverent, discussing the place piercings and tattoos have in the experience of creating their own selves. They play creator with deft hands and a smile on their faces.

When I see folks lament the changes the industry has gone through and the loss of a culture they once knew and loved, I no longer feel such mourning. For as much as things have changed immensely (and not all for the better) some things have remained the same. And of all the things this industry could hold onto, young queer folks deciding to do weird shit with their bodies and genitals behind closed doors and then share it on the internet is one of the best things to remain. I hope this is an element of this community that continues on and outlasts my generation and those after me, and keeps the spirit of what we do for those to come.