UPDATED June 17th, 2017
Every so often the “to pierce or not to pierce a baby’s ears” debate flares up in the U.S. This is probably because there are more and more little Latina girls running around with earrings adorning their cute little earlobes. A lot of Anglo moms consider the practice barbaric and even borderline child abuse. Latina moms accuse Anglos of cultural insensitivity in the same breath that Anglo moms compare earlobe piercing to genital mutilation. There’s no winning this argument.
The latest buzz made me remember my struggle when my girls were born. Being bicultural, not only did I have to think of names that would sound similar in both English and Spanish, but I also wondered whether I would pierce their ears. And, if so, when? And, how?
