It's sort of hard for me to write about this so soon after it happened. When I found out last week about the bill that had passed regarding female genital mutilation, in the state that I will be living in for the next few years (I go to school in Savannah, GA), I was beyond appalled. I felt raped. I felt like those total strangers in the Georgia Senate house might as well have taken my personal freedom and my sexuality and put it in a black box with a lock on it, and thrown away the key, while in the meantime, slapping me in the face and spitting on the Constitution.
At A Glance Author spikeyannie Contact spikeyannie@bme.anon IAM SpikeyAnnie When It just happened Artist me Studio my room Location savannah, ga Even without the "piercing amendment", this law, if it passes all the way through, will still be a drastic action; a sloppy solution to a problem that does not happen often in Georgia as it is. You can read more about the law at the piercing.org website. There is also an article on BME about it called "Bill Heath: Traitor".
Anyway, I'm going to write a separate series of editorials about this bill. My focus here is about my immediate reaction and about the first time I pierced myself for a political cause.
When I found out about the bill, I was at work. I sat quietly suffering for another hour or so and then I went home and realized what I wanted to do. I wanted to pierce myself to claim my pussy for my own, not for Bill Heath or any other government traitor!
The intense need I felt to do this, after never having considered below-the-belt work, was tremendous. It felt like it was physically pulling at my heart as I began to prepare my supplies, my hands shaking and my head pounding.
I put on some Coil to listen to and I put a paper towel down on a stool. I'd laid out a 14g barbell, 14g needle, rubbing alcohol, lube for the needle, and some more paper towels just in case there was a lot of blood.
I dropped my pants and chose the left side of my outer labia near my clit, kind of at an angle. I'd looked at some of the photos on BME and this was a placement I particularly liked so I decided to go for it.
It was really hard for me to do this and leave my emotions out of it. I had to concentrate harder than ever with this piercing. The skin down there seemed so much more vulnerable and I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking. There was a lump in the back of my throat as I sat there lining up the needle.
Somehow, years of feeling sexually repressed and discriminated against, rushed up against me and played back in front of my eyes like a film running backwards. Years of feeling like nothing I said ever mattered, of feeling like I did not have a choice. I thought of the kids I might have someday and I thought of this terrible, closed-minded world I would be bringing them into. I thought of all the little girls growing up now who have been plunged backwards in time to the Stone Age by laws like this.
I thought of how angry I was at people like Bill Heath for thinking they know what's best for my body, and how helpless I felt. My helplessness gave way to rage and I pushed the needle through.
The pain streaked through me like a bullet and was surprisingly dull and aching. It seemed to take forever for that needle to go all the way in. But my anger fueled my ability to tolerate pain and I got the needle through and followed with the barbell.
I stood up on shaky legs and surveyed my handiwork. There was a little swelling and no blood and I couldn't imagine how something so beautiful could potentially be made illegal. I was tempted to have filmed the procedure and sent the tape in an envelope to Bill Heath with a note saying "Come and Get Me Fuckers" but I refrained from this and instead I cleaned up and then went to class with a distinct feeling of accomplishment.
If the law passes all the way through, my boyfriend and I plan to shoot a documentary about it in which I will pierce the other side as well. Otherwise I might just stick with having one piercing down there as a simple reminder of how important it is to fight for our rights and how sometimes civil disobedience, even on a smaller scale, is the only way to prove a point.
Anyway, I guess I'm now a member of the Metal In Your Pants club and it's very exciting. So far it looks like this piercing will heal pretty easily; aftercare is fairly minimal and since it's towards the "front" when I sit down, it doesn't get knocked around at all.
I would include a disclaimer about "don't try this at home", which of course is my usual advice, but in this case I'd also like to say that we are living in a time period where it is more important than ever that we stand up for what we believe in. No matter what opposition we may face.