What is your opinion on gauged ears?

I think that they are attractive to an extent… like the ones that are a few inches big are gross, but ones that are like “0’s” or dubble “0’s” look good

No.

@chocolatechip why? what is it about them that make you not like them at all?

For the same reason why people generally don’t like body parts that are largely disproportionate from the norm. Also it makes me cringe to think that someone has a gaping hole in their ear.

@chocolatechip hahaha cheers to your “someone has a gaping hole in their ear” i can understand that a little better, please dont take this as im targeting you, but if thats the case re: “being out of the norm” what do you think about the people in different cultures or countrys where gauging their lips or ears or stretching their necks are normal for them. do you still find it gross or is it more acceptable for you knowing thats whats normal for them in their way of life?

Gauges don’t do anything for me. I don’t hate them, they don’t disgust me, but they don’t attract me.
So I figure, given that two different actions (leaving your ears alone, vs. gauging them) have the same exact outcome, it makes sense to stick to the simpler action.

I just don’t see what’s so cool about making a big hole where there wasn’t one. As an outsider looking in at the body mod culture, it all seems to be a measurement of how much pain someone can tolerate. And I guess that measurement doesn’t appeal to me.

@Sarcasm not necessarily re: how much pain you can take. i have my tongue pierced, standard piercing size is a 14 gauge. i got it done not to be cool but for the simply lame reason that i have a piece of freaking metal through my freaking tongue (yha i was young) and as time went on i would gauge mine for reasons like, i played with it so much that the hole stretched on its own so i put a bigger bar bell in that would fit it better, currently i have a 4 gauge in my tongue because of another lame reason, i love peoples grossed out or amazed reactions when they see how big it is in such a “taboo” place.

I don’t find them attractive even on people I’m in other ways attracted to.

@Inked_up_chic

I suppose if I was in a culture where it was normal to modify your body to such extents, then I wouldn’t be grossed out by it. By I was raised in a Western country and conditioned as such.

Whenever I see somebody with gauged ears, I think to myself “There’s somebody who’s gonna really hate themselves for doing that to their body in a decade or two.” Gravity always wins. Eww.

@jeffgoldblumsprivatefacilities

Hahaha

And what if you accidentally get something caught in there? Ouch!

@Sarcasm I’m with you here. I’m not disgusted by them but I don’t find them (or any kinds of piercings) attractive in the slightest. Tattoos on the other hand, now there’s a body modification that I can definitely find attractive. I’ve no desire to make holes in my body and stick bits of metal in them. But walking round with a piece of art on my skin, I like.

I don’t like them. It makes me wonder what kind of person will spend so much time and effort for something so trivial and potentially damaging. I also wonder what happens in freezing, winter weather. 5 years from now when styles and tastes inevitably change, the lobes will hang like cooked spaghetti.
I don’t like piercings either but at least they heal over when you change your mind..

Should I stop while mine are still small enough to heal up on their own? I like em the way they are, just heavy enough to feel them there.

There is a whole industry out there already specializing in stretched earlobe repair. Here is one example. .
Apparently more than one person has regretted a choice they made when they were younger.

I don’t think they are sexy and I don’t think they are disgusting.I do think they are just another way to try to be different…as in belonging to a “Big ‘Ol Group of People with Gauged Ears”... ;)).

They send shivers of shock up my spine!

I feel it’s really unattractive, mutilating the body like that when it’s already beautiful. But they’re not my ears so I don’t care.

I don’t mind it. Of course I have stretched ears so… I’m at 5/8 which is one full step up from ½ inch. It sounds big but it’s really not. Here’s a picture with a 5/8 in and here’s a picture of it out.

To me, stretching is ok to a point. Too much of anything is eventually a bad thing. It’s hard to point out where to draw the line but there is defiantly a line that you cross from normal to ridiculous. I’m sure some of you think I already crossed it but I don’t mind.

As long as the time is taken to stretch slowly and correctly, then no pain is involved. Problems arise when people try to make a ½ hole out of a 4ga one. That’s also what causes blowouts and other nasty problems with stretched ears.

Stretched ears can grow back on their own to an extent. The elasticity of the skin is astonishing. It differs from person to person but it’s generally accepted that 00ga is the cut off point for your ears to self heal. There is a chance that if you save all your old plugs and size back down that you can venture slightly farther and still have your ears close up without surgery.

If you begin to stretch with the thought that you may not want them later though, then you need to second guess your decision to do it. That’s like deciding to get a tattoo for the summer with the intention of getting it removed that winter. It makes no sense. Permanent body mods wouldn’t be such a big deal if people thought their decisions through. They might not be as popular either but at least those of us that have them wouldn’t get as much of a bad rap.

Stretching is just another way for people to hide how normal they are. It’s funny because it’s today’s society that causes people to want to be extraordinary and different but then society shuns them for doing so.

Bottom line is that it’s like any other body mod. Some people like it, some people don’t and some people take it to ridiculous extremes.

My ears are at a 00g. It took me two years to get to that point. I have great respect for people that have stretched ears because of the patience it takes (if it is done correctly).
There are those who stretch their ears too quickly because they want it now! But in the end their ears end up ripping apart and look like absolute shit.

Oh, and I also love the way it looks and the pretty jewelry that you can purchase for your ears.

They gross me out!