AN INTROSPECTIVE NARRATIVE OF FEMALE PIERCERS DOWN UNDER

By Eloise Ridgewell & Kyla Scrivener

Australia; a land stretching over 7.6 million square kilometres, famous for its blistering summers, beautiful beaches and wildlife that will kill you in every awful way conceivable. Born from this unique environment comes a well-known character, the true blue Aussie larrikin; a cultural icon who is tough, defiant, loud and enjoys poking fun at people. Although affectionately embraced by the international community and Australians alike, this stereotype has its pitfalls when trying to establish one’s identity on an international, professional scale. The need to be loud, tough, boisterous and outrageous is often expected of those from Down Under and can unfortunately take precedence over the individual identity. While this persona definitely has its place in the Australian piercing community, there is a hive of quiet activity migrating from this previously dominating attitude and branching into a more delicate, refined, sophisticated and feminine creation. To understand how this evolution started to come about, we must first reflect on our origins of how Australian piercing began.

We speak with Bella van Nes of Piercing HQ, the continent’s original female piercer, whose piercing career started over 28 years ago in Australia’s first piercing studio, then located above a small adult bookstore in Melbourne:

“[In the beginning] we saw a range of colourful characters. Folks didn’t care that the jewellery was plain; all they cared about was how it was going to make their sex life better. Fast forward to the navel piercing boom in the mid ‘90s and the need for prettier decorative jewellery styles. This was the beginning of having a piercing done for “the look” instead of “the feel” and when my need for more female staff became apparent; who were happy to spend time putting jewellery combinations together for clients and pouring over wonderful jewellery catalogues with them.”

This motivation for aesthetics over sensation sparked a ferocious growth for the Australian piercing community, jewellery manufacturers and women’s place in the industry.

The Australian piercing industry has evolved and expanded greatly in those 28 years to become what we see today. As of 2018, there are only 10 studios nation-wide operating at a standard internationally recognised as high end or reputable. Outside of that minority, there are over 400 piercing-related franchise businesses and innumerable tattoo studios and beauty salons offering piercing services. Considering there are a minimum of three to five piercers in each franchise, the ratio of franchise to studio piercers becomes greatly skewed. Due to this imbalance, a severe congestion is being seen, with a saturation of lower quality jewellery and more laxed standards becoming regarded as the norm. Another more intriguing outcome of the rise of franchise piercing has been the influx of female piercers being offered full time work in these ‘retail’ positions in precedence over male piercers for similar job opportunities.

In Australia, the retail and franchise industry is the third largest employer of women, after healthcare and education; this merging of retail franchises and piercing has opened the door for more women to be offered piercing positions than ever before. Prior to this pairing, the Australian piercing scene was almost entirely male dominated and with little to no job security, while franchises played a role in legitimising this career path by paying piercers a retail wage and steady employment. Although perhaps not an ideal introduction to the industry, joining a franchised brand soon became a way to get your foot in the door as an apprentice or employee at a reputable studio. From these humble beginnings, female piercers were now in a position to step forward and put their foot on the career ladder within these retail chains and begin to network with high end studios and manufacturers like never before. Synonymous with this saturation of female piercers nationally came the increased desire for ornate, couture, and more exclusive lines of jewellery, directly influenced by the world’s creative stylists; gone were the plain steel captive  bead ring haydays of the ‘90s! On the runways of high end fashion influencers like House of Malakai, Alexander McQueen, Dior, and most noticeably Givenchy, we were seeing luxuriously stylised adornments and  faux-piercings that soon proved to be ground-breaking in establishing the market for high end body jewellery in a modern Australian setting. Social and visual media greatly contributed in globalising these international piercing and jewellery trends, also allowing clients on our shores to make reference to the work of international industry members. It also increased a demand for unique pieces sculpted from precious metals and stones that had never before been seen here on such a scale or with such diversity.

This mainstreaming of elegance in piercing began to widen the original Australian piercee demographic; the demand for opulent, more feminine jewellery options lead to a shift in what clients expected to experience within a piercing studio, and their attitude towards the practitioners providing their services. Piercers collectively started hearing fewer statements about “putting a hole in” or “just being a piercer,” and were now being trusted to provide more of an artistic and immersive approach to the client’s overall aesthetic and desires. This newfound expectation of a piercer’s artistic integrity to craft an ensemble designed to accentuate and flatter became more desirable than the previously normalised pierce-and-go experience, which gave rise to an opportunity for a deeper, more personal collaboration and interaction between piercer and piercee. This noticeable atmospheric softening and an openness to more emotive experiences is moving further away from the masculine stoic stereotype. Allowing for a synergy that can be a wholly rewarding, cathartic contact for both client and piercer by creating a positive, safe space to process the potentially serious emotions and events that brings patrons into our work spaces.

Introspectively, from our own personal experiences as younger women growing up in more rural Australia, the options presented for adult life are largely centered around hairdressing, beauty therapy, or child-rearing. To be a woman not actively pursuing those ambitions is to be an outlier from the norm of femininity, and as such, implies harshness, bullishness, and almost a certain masculinity. In addition, an interest or participation in an already taboo lifestyle, such as body art, modification, or the kink scene, and this misconception about who you are and your attitude as a woman is reinforced greatly in the eyes of others.

ELOISE RIDGEWELL of The Piercing Urge, Melbourne, VIC:

My interest in the industry as  a spectator was peaked in early adolescence by an urge for rebellion and a desire to be abrasive and obtuse. I grew up in a very conservative household by most standards,  and  saw body piercing as an outlet, so expressed my aggression by getting—wait for it—an awfully, AWFULLY executed 16ga septum piercing—somebody call Korn; their freak got off the leash. Retrospectively, that traumatic first piercing experience in the typical rough, dingy, bikeresque tattoo studio as a naive girl served as the catalyst that opened my eyes to the prospect of stepping into the industry as a practitioner, rather than purely an enthusiast. I entered the industry young, angry, and always on the defensive, but soon realised that I didn’t want to give my clientele the same experience that I had received, which was largely regarded as the norm for the area I lived and worked in at the time.

Soon enough, the scary outfits turned into soft colours and floral skirts, and the “fuck you” attitude softened into something much more truthful and authentic to who I am. Around this time, I was lucky enough to connect with some incredibly strong female piercers on the Australasian scene, Cherry Sutherland and Kylie Garth, and was offered a position with one of the most established high end studios in the country, The Piercing Urge, which has been in operation in Melbourne since 1991. I am eternally grateful to my employer and owner of The Piercing Urge, Peter Sheringham, for providing me with the platform, support and opportunity to be able to step forward in this industry, as well as his acceptance of a more feminine touch in such a well-established kink-originated studio, in order to become inclusive and welcoming to a broader demographic.

Attending the Trauma Informed Modification and Grounding class, as well as taking part in the Women of Piercing roundtable discussion during the 2017 APP Conference really ignited a spark in terms of what kind of impact I wanted to have on my clients during my short amount of time with them. Being trusted by our clients, whether it be their faith in our professionalism, technical abilities, eye for design, or allowing us to assist in the reclamation of their body is an incredibly powerful thing, that I truly feel grateful for every single day. Becoming more in touch with my own femininity and softness has helped my work and client interactions infinitely; I’m noticing an overwhelmingly positive and fulfilling encounter for both parties in comparison to the more typical Aussie piercing attitude of “have a teaspoon of cement and harden up”. We as piercers are often therapists, healers, personal life coaches, cheerleaders, and caregivers, and I sought to create an inclusive, welcoming space, where people could feel free from the quick judgements and abrupt bedside manner they may have been used to; where they could not only receive a traditional in and-out piercing service, but also something more holistic and cathartic should they require that.

This newfound placidity has also opened many doors professionally,  allowing  me to connect with a much wider spectrum of piercing community members. Being able to attend my first APP Conference and meet the community’s strong female figures and industry’s foremothers, including Alicia Cardenas, Bethrah Szumski, and Kendra Jane (who is also the reason I am sitting here writing this article) was a profoundly humbling and inspiring experience. Brainstorming with Kylie Garth and Suzanne Hallett and birthing the concept for a now hugely successful industry group for women, gender non-conforming people, and trans folk, then forging meaningful connections with the beautiful people that are part of it has been one of the single most rewarding encounters of my life. There’s a real feeling of sisterhood, inclusivity and empowerment brewing both in our industry and societally at the moment, and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Kyla Scrivener of Sacred Art, Newcastle, NSW and APP Member:

I experienced one of the most powerful eureka moments of my life during the 2017 APP Conference. The incredibly well spoken John Johnson spoke of the “Life Piercer”. To paraphrase, he explained that we take the lessons our craft teaches which have an impact on our life forever. We see the world through a piercer’s eyes no matter where we are, inspiring the people who continue to be a piercer long after they have retired the needle. I have learnt some of my most important life lessons from this incredible art form, but none more than the ability to embrace my femininity and embrace my womanhood. The irony that I needed to learn this from men still makes me laugh quietly at the weird twists this universe throws our way.

  I naturally fell into piercing at a time where to me it was still a way to ruffle society’s feathers. If it was large, impressive, shocking, or garish then I wanted it pierced and I wanted it as offensive as possible because to me that was tough and that’s all I knew. Fast forward to 2015 when I was offered a position at Sacred Art in Newcastle, New South Wales where APP Member Mick Swan ran things a little differently to what  I was used to. Mick had created an atmosphere that was calm, gentle, inviting, and boutique. His prime focus was to establish an environment where his mother and sister could visit and feel safe and comfortable. The confronting mohawk, black metal band shirts, and obnoxious choice in piercing jewellery that once comforted me made no sense in my new found environment. The demographic I was now piercing were women between the ages of 18—45, from a middle to high socio-economic demographic, who wanted delicate gold ends with precious stones.

The confronting attitude and attire had to go, because selling diamonds and presenting myself this way was an uphill battle. This small change pushed me to soften my look and find a more female friendly identity. With mostly female clients, I was finding that I was constantly surrounded by these women, who all had stories to tell and that room would become a safe confession of catharsis, adornment, and human connection that I had never experienced before. Then the emotional bomb of the incredible “Modify Your Story” by Jaymes Lombardi hit me; his words of you being a guide to these people and that “everything you do, revolves around the stories we tell” resonate with me to this day. This is the third male in this story to make me realise that I was put on this earth to create, heal, celebrate, and mentor. These people wanted to create a moment, to heal or celebrate that memory or chapter in their life and to be guided through it in the nicest and safest way possible. To be able to be this person, I had to tap into that innate feminine side of myself because my masculine side just could not connect. These tiny changes planted seeds that now allowed me to really honour the clients I was so lucky to be surrounded by and finally allowed me the space to embrace that side of myself which never felt comfortable before.

While the metaphorical cauldron of a feminine energy is bubbling over internally, Australia is starting to see an awakening in a more soft-handed and delicate approach to piercing as a result. This newly allowed artistic freedom presents an opportunity to cultivate an immersive atmosphere of safety and beauty by utilising scent, sound, and design both personally and in the aesthetics of your studio to appeal to your client base. By doing this, two high end studios can create an entirely unique experience for their clientele, even though they may well provide the exact same services with the exact same jewellery. Clients are also becoming much more involved in the process of seeking out artists who compliment their jewellery and design choices, like they would if they were researching a particular style of tattooing. You no longer go to a piercer just to get a piercing, but rather for an overall experience, and our attitudes must reflect this.

Although the industry at large is becoming more multi-faceted, progressive, and gender-diverse than ever, the final shifts of societal norms still need to occur to be completely inclusive nationwide. The distribution of piercing positions in terms of binary gender is relatively even in Australia, however the societal norm of what is acceptable and expected from each role is not. Gloria Steinem quotes, “women are always saying, ‘we can do anything that men can do’ but men should be saying, ‘we can do anything that women can do.’” The final frontiers of Australian piercing need to see the barriers of stereotypical masculinity receding so that more male piercers are able to connect on a deep and interpersonal level also without the fear of not being a ‘bloke’. As Australian writer and comedian Patrick Marlborough quotes,“our national image of manliness is obsolete, and it’s killing us”. With this feminine piercing renaissance at its peak, hopefully we will see more men allowed to be able to shed the weight of toxic masculinity and embrace their feminine side within the industry, and encourage more women to be present in the dialogue without feeling the need to be loud or aggressive to be heard.

“Be soft for the sake of every hard heart; show them with every move of your body that gentle does not mean weak.”—Emma Bleker