Which side is the gay side to pierce your ear

At the same time, the left ear is straight. As time went on, earrings as a whole became more popular, and even some straight men opted to pierce their right ear. It soon became clear that the "gay ear" was no longer a reliable way to tell if a man was gay or not. The "gay earring" fad lasted until the s. Robbie (Normal) on X (Twitter) captures a contemporary view by asserting, “either ear is the gay ear if you're gay.” It’s significant because it emphasizes how ear piercings related to sexual orientation are outdated and irrelevant–a sign that societal norms are shifting away from traditional views.

Which side was the gay earring? Well, if you were a heterosexual guy and you wanted to pierce an ear, it always had to be the left ear because the right ear was the gay ear. In that case, look for the right ear — that’s the “gay” side. It’s important to recognize, however, that the idea of one ear being gay and the other being straight is archaic and not likely to be the wink you think it is.

One common belief is that the right ear is the “gay ear.” This idea likely stems from past cultural codes where the right side was seen as symbolically linked to queerness. In this view, piercing the right ear quietly communicated one’s identity to those who knew what to look for. The “Left is Law” Counterargument. We accepted it as gospel and never questioned its validity. But as I grew up, it seemed like everyone I met, no matter their place of origin, knew and understood the earring code, as arbitrary as it seems.

Historically speaking, the truth is more complex. Earrings on guys have signified many things over the years, such as social stature or religious affiliation. In his book The Naked Man: A Study of the Male Body , Desmond Morris explains that earrings have indicated wisdom and compassion in the stretched earlobes of the Buddha, while pirates wore them in the belief it would protect them from drowning. In the Elizabethan era, earrings were quite fashionable for men, he writes.

In the Western world, earrings, so long a purely female adornment, have recently been seen on increasing numbers of male ears. At first it was assumed that the wearers were all effeminate homosexuals, but it soon became clear the the habit was spreading to the more avant-garde of the young heterosexuals. This led to some confusion and stories began to circulate that there was a secret code, that to wear an earring in a pierced left ear was homosexual, and in a pierced right ear was rebel heterosexual.

The problem was that nobody could remember which was supposed to be which. In the end the male earring lost its sexual significance altogether, and simply became a generalized way of annoying middle-aged, latter-day puritans.

Another guy got two piercings in his right ear in college, to which we all remarked that that he wanted everyone to know that he was a power bottom — which he is. A man in the U. If it were in my right ear, that would mean I was gay. Quinn Myers is a staff writer at MEL. He reports on internet culture, technology, health, masculinity and the communities that flourish within.

is the left ear the gay ear

And in the 20th century, people got confused about which ear meant what: In the Western world, earrings, so long a purely female adornment, have recently been seen on increasing numbers of male ears. What does Generation Z think of the whole gay code? Some time after that, of course, I made peace with the fact that I am gay. More Stories from MEL.