Why get gauges if you don't want to stretch your ears?

My 13 year old daughter, who has “normally” pierced ears, now tells me that she “just wants to wear small gauges because they look cool, not because she wants to stretch her ears”. Wouldn’t even the smallest plug still stretch the size of her piercing? Are small gauges enough to “make a statement” and if so, what is the usual culture of 13 year olds who wear gauges? Who is she trying to fit in with? She is otherwise actually pretty conservative.