[TalnSG]

Originally Posted by dogsbody70

are piercings really seen as attractive.

As with any adornment or alteration, the attractiveness is subjective. Personally, I find very few piercings attractive. Some are because their placement distracts from what I consider natural beauty (ie. nose rings and eyebrow piercings). Others are unattractive because of the "jewelry" chosen - I like metal and gems, but spacers just look dumb to me. But again, that is a very personal perspective - just as someone thinking my necklace is unattractive.

i guess man has decorated himself since time began--but how are piercings actually attractive

Many piercings (before modern times) were for practical purposes. Some were ways to keep valuables at hand without having to carry them (large earrings, coin necklaces, etc). Other were marks of identification showing either their tribal/community association or their status in life. Even today it is sometimes the same sort of reasoning. My own father agree to my first ear piercing because he didn't want me losing my mother's earrings that were passed down each generation. Having some more outrageous piercings show a person to be part of a social grouping at times.

what about when you want rid of them---------no doubt tattoos can be tricky to erase.

Techniques for removing tattoos are improving with lasers to break up the ink. Though they still aren't perfect, they are much better than having to settle for removing the skin or finding an artist who can change the original artwork with an overlaid design.

Erasing piercings is easier. The body generally likes to repair hole in its covering. The sooner the piercing is left alone and empty the faster and more completely it will heal over. Even if the piercing is old, smaller ones may still heal over leaving only a small mark of scar tissue. Those which have severly stretched skin such as ear lobes, such as with large plug or spacers, with have permanent loops unless they pay a plastic surgeon to cut off the excess and reshape the lobes.