<p>Romanigypsyeyes - No.</p>
<p>Apples and oranges - My kid’s not going to be self-conscious and get ridiculed because of a lack of a tramp stamp.</p>
<p>Fixing a kid’s teeth to make them straight is not the same thing as a tattoo.</p>
<p>I have never heard of “non-medically neccessary braces”, since crooked teeth are a good sign that there is something wrong with the person’s bite, and I have not yet encountered a person who has regrets about correcting their bite. Are you talking about grillz or whatever they are called? Yes, I have the same problem with them.</p>
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But the purpose of braces is to make the teeth appear and function normally (both components usually). I’d object to the appearance of someone who used braces to make their teeth all stick straight out or some other goofy thing. </p>
<p>What about those people who file their teeth to all look like sharp points?</p>
<p>What about those people who have split their tongues so they’re snakelike? </p>
<p>What about the people who have surgically implanted devices so they can have horn bumps?</p>
<p>Okay, I’ve been watching too much National Geographic ‘weird behavior’ type shows but there are people who do the above but it seems pretty rare.</p>
<p>When I say ‘object’ I just mean my internal thoughts. They can obviously do whatever they want and hopefully aren’t a member of my immediate family.</p>
<p>Instead of using braces as the example you might want to use non-restorative bust enhancement surgery as an example, or various other more or less permanent implants.</p>
<p>But really, some of these piercings, like a nose or lip ring or thing stuck through the eyebrow - do people really think they enhance their appearance? I know they’re trying to appeal to a certain group and usually, fit in with that group (i.e. trying to be ‘unique’ is usually far form the truth - they’re doing it because their peer group is doing it), but it’s just plain ugly in my irrelevant opinion.</p>
<p>Many folks get their opinion of tattoos from this:</p>
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<p>Many may not be able to quote chapter and verse, but they may have internialized that God said not to get tattoos.</p>
<p>A friend’s son plays a DI sport and I was just reading his blog. I noticed that he has a large tattoo of his team’s logo on his arm…and he’s a terrific, smart, totally together kid. But of course, that’s not the type to which D is attracted…bring on the wild hair, facial piercings, sleeves, etc.</p>
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<p>Ick, ick and ick.</p>
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<p>Exactly. D would be different from us if she was tattoed and pierced, but wants to be tattoed and pierced so that the guys who look like that will think she’s like them. This is why 16 year olds are not legally allowed to get that stuff done. It will probably all seem inane to her in a few years.</p>
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And I didn’t mention - eyeball tattooing (really! - injecting a dye into the white part of the eye so it’s yellow, or red - I think it’s permanent).</p>
<p>So there’s a degree I suppose - </p>
<p>Pierced ears for earrings ->
Little heart tat in an obscure area ->
Visible face piercings and visible tats ->
Extensive piercings and extensive tats ->
Horn bumps, split tongue, etc. ->
Eyeball tattooing!!</p>
<p>GGD, yes, that takes the cake. It is permanent - there is no laser treatment that can remove the ink from the eyeball. I turned the TV off at that point. 
What happened to good ol’ colored contact lenses that make your eyes look like cat’s or snake’s eyes?</p>
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<p>I agree. I think it’s very bad judgment and a very bad idea to tie yourself with the fashions of the moment for the rest of your life. I told my girls that if they must express their spirits of artistry or rebellion with their bodies that they do it with their hair or clothes and not with their skin. I think bright blue hair or some of the extreme hair styles look just as ridiculous as a tattoo, but they are nearly so horrifying because they are completely reversible.</p>
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<p>Yes, and I hate implants too. I put them in the same category as tattoos - unnecessary and permanent mutilations of the body done for the frivolous reasons of fashion and fad.</p>
<p>I have a friend who’s mother is a dentist. She said that my friend could get braces because her teeth didn’t look perfect, but her professional opinion is that it was only cosmetic and not medically necessary and she shouldn’t. Many non-dentist parents might have gone right to the orthodontist – cosmetic braces. Breast implants are a really good example. Even non-permanent stuff – I have a scar on my leg from a really bad shaving cut and I have a friend who routinely got chemical burns getting her (African American) hair straightened as a child. And the amount of money that people – women especially – can spend on cosmetic stuff kind of horrifies me. I remember my mom having a friend who said that she wouldn’t let her husband see her without her makeup. I think that that says a lot more about self-esteem than a tattoo.</p>
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<p>“and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.”</p>
<p>Ez 16:12</p>
<p>So tattoos aren’t okay but nose rings are, at least according to the Bible.</p>
<p>I’m definitely not a fan of tattoos and not really a fan of jewelry though I can live with the more traditional stuff.</p>
<p>“Many non-dentist parents might have gone right to the orthodontist – cosmetic braces.”</p>
<p>Our local ortho doc advises against braces when they are clearly not needed*. He is a great professional with no lack of patients. *As defined by health benefit/cost/trouble ratio. Most of the time, there is some benefit, but the cost and/or trouble outweigh it.</p>
<p>Breast implants - I do not get them, unless the person getting one is a breast cancer survivor. As far as leg shaving goes - it is cold enough here to wear pants all year round. Makeup - I own little of it and usually put on a bit for formal occasions. I once asked Mr B if I looked like a freak with unshaven legs and no makeup. He said I was beautiful :)</p>
<p>When my son was about 14-15, he happened to come with me to pick up his younger sisters at the religious K-8 school he had graduated from a year or two earlier. At the time, he was in his parachute pant/punk phase (no piercings or tats but he looked as scary as a white suburban early teen can look when mom has him on a tight leash). He and I were both bemused to see a new parent scurrying her young children away from him as he stood at the entrance catching up with students and teachers he had known.</p>
<p>“Reassure me that all tatooed, pierced young people aren’t drug using losers”</p>
<p>I think the consensus here is that while we cannot agree with the above stated, we all agree that not all all tatooed, pierced young people are drug using losers. :)</p>
<p>missypie, as far a being physically attracted to such guys in HS… College changes a lot of things, including taste in guys.</p>
<p>Well, Leviticus was also the book that told people not to eat shellfish or wear clothing made of mixed fibers. I really doubt most people are looking at Levicitus, even sideways with a squint, when they talk about disliking tattoos. (For that matter, I have never heard people protest embalmings, and those are from the very same verse.) I think it goes more along the lines of, “I’m not used to that. Ick, ick, ick.”</p>
<p>Hey, I have that reaction to some piercings, etc, as well. I think tongue rings and eyebrow rings look unpleasant. But there’s a big difference between “I sure wouldn’t do that myself” and “there must be something WRONG with people who do that.” I wouldn’t get a tongue ring myself. I wouldn’t buy a $2,000 purse either, but that doesn’t mean that people who do so are hopped up on meth or riding around in purse-based motorcycle gangs.</p>
<p>That said, I would definitely watch a movie where people drove around in purse-based motorcycle gangs.</p>
<p>Yes, I know intellectually that not all pierced and tattooed people are drug users, but I just can’t get over wondering why oh why would someone do that to their body. i find it especially off putting when a beautiful woman has something crawling out of her dress half covered half uncovered. Ick. Let her date people with tats if that doesn’t bother you, but don’t let her get one is my advice. When S2 was touring colleges he was totally put off my one campus with an abundance of tats, piercing and wacky colored hair. It was a great college but he just couldn’t get past it…and he’s a young person so it’s not only us "older’ people.</p>
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<p>I need to know the name to put it on D’s list!</p>
<p>People are certainly entitled to opinions about they like or not. It does bother me when it’s couched in condescending and/or sexist terms. Though you’re entitled to those, too. It’s a free country.</p>
<p>However, it’s adorable that people convince themselves that all braces are for medical reasons, not caving to pre-conceived but arbitrary ideas of what’s the norm. And i guess all nose jobs really are for deviated septums, too, right?</p>
<h1>self-deluding justifications.</h1>
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<p>And some people don’t eat shellfish and don’t wear clothing made of mixed fibers.</p>
<p>There is no self-delusion. Medical reason = ratio of benefit/cost/trouble. If the benefit is minimal and the cost is huge, is there a reason? I also strongly believe that nose jobs (not needed to correct birth defects etc.) and most adult cosmetic surgeries (eyelids lifts, wrinkle removal, etc.) fall into the “unneeded” category.</p>
<p>The point is, BB, that lots of times braces are not for medical reasons. Teeth can be a little bit crooked and not affect health at all.</p>