Another day, another fierce Internet debate about almost-billionaire Kylie Jenner. Moving on from conversations about whether or not she should be described as “self-made” and her lip filler, people have turned their focus on a new thing: her daughter’s pierced ears.
Yesterday Jenner uploaded a video to Snapchat of herself giving kisses to her daughter, Stormi Webster, and eagle-eyed viewers soon noticed that the five-month-old has pierced ears. As with all things Kardashian-Jenner, people were not afraid to share their opinions about this online. But babies with pierced ears have been a hot topic for years, one that bubbles up every time a celebrity is involved. See also: Gisele Bündchen, Angelina Jolie, Kim Kardashian West, and, yes, even Beyoncé—who took some heat for Blue Ivy having pierced ears at age two.
A post shared by Kylie Jenner(@kyliesnapchat) on Jul 11, 2018 at 5:45pm PDT
In the case of Stormi’s ears, Twitter users are particularly fired up for a debate. Some argue that parents should wait until the child can decide for herself whether or not she wants her ears pierced, while others worried about inflicting pain on a baby.
As if kylie Jenner’s already got her babies ears pierced 😷 I’m not even saying it cruel (it is) and that they don’t consent to it. It just looks ugly on a baby and once you see them you can’t unsee them, not cute
— Al 🐽 (@alexxlockhart) July 12, 2018
kylie got her babies ears pierced 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
— Elly (@ELLYY1) July 12, 2018
Others defended Kylie Jenner’s decision by pointing out that in many cultures it’s a common tradition to pierce a baby’s ears. “For Latina moms, piercing their baby girls’ ears has nothing to do with vanity,” Roxana Soto, author of Bilingual Baby, told today.com all the way back in 2013—proving the debate is not just a Kylie thing. “It’s simply a cultural tradition. So much so that I freaked out when I learned my first child was a girl because I had no idea where I would take her to get her ears pierced.”
Very common in US, especially in black and Hispanic culture. I have mixed kids and my boyfriend’s family was pressing me about when I would get daughter’s ears pierced. I haven’t. She is about 1.5 yrs, which is old for her to not have them done in black culture.
— bananas_lit (@miss_anastasiaa) July 12, 2018
why are ppl slating kylie jenner for having stormi’s ear pierced ??? i had my ears pierced before i turned one bc when ur a baby it’s less painful and the child won’t remember the pain, like sis it’s not that deep
— stan charli xcx fatass (@artschoolsucks) July 12, 2018
However, another issue some have taken with ear piercing at a young age is that it’s a very gendered decision to make for another person before they’re able to consent themselves. The tweets below were written before Stormi’s piercing, but are a good example of the argument against:
No circumcision, no ear piercing, CERTAINLY no gender-altering surgery until the child is old enough to give true consent.
— Dr K Alexander, MD FRCSC (@drkimalexander) October 26, 2017
Not to be fake deep this early but don’t you think it’s weird that we subject infants to the pain of a ear piercing purely for gender identification
— Lara BEEN Croft (@ElZephyr_) June 17, 2018
Wherever you fall on the Kylie-stan spectrum, it’s safe to assume she’s taking great care of her daughter—and her newly pierced ears.
