I am Cloud. I am a mature professional woman, and I loathe the mainstream. I got my first tattoo in approximately 1988, which set me on a trip I'll be on for the rest of my life. This is the story of my genital piercings. They comprise a 6 gauge horizontal hood piercing and two, 4 gauge inner labia piercings which were performed at a single session in 2001. To date; they are my only genital piercings.
At A Glance Author Cloud Contact Cloud@bme.anon IAM Cloud When Five years ago Artist Todd Bertrang Studio Flesh Tones Location El Paso Caveat: This experience describes piercing by Todd Bertrang. If you are a Todd hater, you might not want to continue. I hesitated for a long time to offer this experience, due to the fact that Todd is now resting uncomfortably in jail. But I've never regretted it, and still maintain it was one of the best experiences of my life. So:
I had thought about getting a hood piercing for several years, ever since one of my tattooers mentioned the idea to me. When I started to get into piercing, I went to a local tattoo shop (Flesh Tones) where I had gotten tattooed before, and consulted with the young female piercer there. I told her I wanted a hood piercing, but she said, "Oh, no, I don't like to do those because they move around and you can never get them right." Needless to say, I wasn't going to let anybody stick me there who didn't feel comfortable doing the piercing I wanted. Even back then, I knew that I wanted someone very experienced if I was going to get THAT pierced! I went with my second choice then, and followed up with a tongue piercing (apparently she felt comfortable doing those).
One evening, I went into the shop with the idea of getting my navel stretched, and I was told, "Well [the chick] isn't here, but we have this other guy." While I was waiting for the guy (who out of the shop at dinner), I looked at the portfolio books he had out. There were at least 10 binders, and they were full of genital piercings. It was extremely obvious that the guy knew what he was doing! Now, I live in a large but very unsophisticated and isolated town. My opportunities for professional piercing by very experienced piercers are limited (which is why I now travel 300 miles to get pierced). When this new guy (who turned out to be Todd Bertrang) came in, he immediately made me feel very comfortable and he was very detailed in his questions and consultation. It also turned out that this would be my only opportunity, as he was leaving to return to L.A. in two days. Since this would be my only chance, I decided to go for it.
I undressed partially, and he examined my genitals in detail and we discussed which piercings to get based on my anatomy and the particular way I'm wired. Now, understand, this was at a time when I was coming out of years of single motherhood, depression, and obesity, and hadn't had any intimate relations for so long I'm embarrassed. It was a very liberating experience and I was able to talk a bit with him about sex and how the piercings affected it and my attitude, etc. We talked for quite some time, so I had a good idea of how bent he was from the beginning. He talked about his plans for bisecting the penis, and other rather extreme plans, but I was not, and am not, too bothered about what consenting adults do to themselves. He was great!
It took him a while to set up. He had a lot of unusual equipment, including some kind of samovar or electric tea kettle, and he explained his theories of sterilization. He also shaved my pubic region. Since this piercing, I have done hundreds of hours of research on body piercing and talked to many, many piercers. I know so much more about sterilization, technique, etc. and now realize his procedures do not follow the "party line" which responsible piercers follow today. I wish I had paid more attention to his detailed explanation.
After a detailed examination of my anatomy, we decided on a horizontal hood and 2 inner labia piercings. My inner labia are naturally very long, protruding several inches out from my outer ones, and they are symmetrical, which Todd told me is very unusual. He did the inner labia first at 4 gauge using one needle stroke through both. He did the hood at 6 g. The hood was definitely the most painful piercing I have experienced. I'm sure people in the next state could hear me yell! There was a little bit of excess skin left on the hood which he scalpeled off. He placed heavy CBRs in all three piercings. I had a very experienced piercer look at them with the idea of changing them recently, and she stated that part of my clit was pierced (which was no doubt why it hurt so bad). I'm not sure what to think about that. I wasn't too surprised, given Todd's proclivities. Maybe he did it on purpose; maybe I jerked, I will never know.
Todd gave me very detailed instructions on aftercare, including a print out and contact information. He gave me Provon soap, multiple packages of herbs, and asked me to contact him after a day to let him know how I was doing. I believe I paid him about $300 for all three piercings, the jewelry, and aftercare supplies.
I came away feeling very empowered. I felt, well, if I can do this, I can do anything! I went straight home and dropped my pants in front of my daughters! I am still so very proud of my piercings. This was in November 2001, and I still have the original jewelry. Every time I think about changing them, something stops me--I guess I'm just "attached" to these piercings.
Now, a lot of people will give you all kinds of grief for supporting Todd, saying he's a perv, preying on women, etc. I really did not get that kind of vibe from him at all. I had a really great experience with him. Getting these piercings from him really boosted my interest in piercing from, "Oh, that's cool" to "It's a lifestyle choice." I would not be on IAM or Tribalectic today if not for Todd, I would not be a patron member of the APP, and I certainly would not be working on a book on the subject of body piercing (which I am, along with my lovely and talented co-author, Elayne Angel). He truly changed my life.
Todd influenced my attitudes about piercing and technique more than anything else; particularly, my prejudice toward large gauge piercings, use of herb soaks instead of salt, and the emphasis on sexual piercings. Many of his ideas are quite different from other piercers. Now that I know a lot more about piercings in general, I realize how much his theories and techniques are different from the norm, but I don't believe that is a bad thing. As much as I promote "standard" aftercare and the use of responsible, professional piercers today to people who are curious, I recognize that piercers who are beyond the norm, who are willing to experiment and push the envelope, advance the art in their own way.