Male Earrings: What Does it Really Mean?

After viewing and analyzing the 1968 Skipjack and the work of Andy Warhol, I have clearly found that popular culture is constantly changing and adapting to new styles, attitudes, and especially, the messages individuals attempt to portray with what they wear.

Since people have always been wearing certain things to portray who they are, I would argue that one of the best current styles that clearly personifies this is men who wear earrings. Back in the conservative era of the 1960’s, men with earrings were ostracized and accused of homosexuality. In ancient times, males wore earrings to signify power and prestige, and now in current times, this jewelry has grown accepted and adapted many new meanings. It’s true that some homosexuals express themselves through jewelry, even to the subtle distinction of which ear one is pierced, but now, this style has also been absorbed into the representation of power and wealth. In current times of material wealth, a man wearing huge diamond earrings turns heads not for the assumption of homosexuality, but the assumption that the man must be rich. By wearing expensive and flashy jewelry, these men display their wealth in a proud and prestigious way; a new age twist on the ideas of men from ancient times. Another earring style borrowed from ancient or tribal themes is known as gauging, or stretching one’s piercing to sizes sometimes far beyond the traditional 20 gauge stud. This style can portray many messages ranging from simple aesthetics to a display of current day deviant or counter-culture behavior similar to that of Warhol’s or the Punks.

Men wearing earrings can mean many things, you just have to look closer to see what message the ear studded man is trying to portray. Whether it’s an expression of sexuality, wealth, power, deviancy, or something else, the ever changing and growing sub culture of men with earrings is constantly manifesting new social meanings. After performing a semiotic analysis of this particular style, I can strongly argue that it reflects pretty much the biggest principle of pop culture: that it is ever changing and constantly used to project new meanings and beliefs.

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