Hi

My name is Yates Monteith. I'm a Sophomore at Manhattan College, and very interested in Body Modification. Last time I posted in this forum was to gather information on a paper I was writing in High School on why people get piercings. I ended up writing a 22 page paper that received a B+.

Once again I have to call on LJ's modification community as I write another paper on Body Modification. This time I'm writing about Piercings in reference with Social Class, and I would be honored and thankful if the good people of this community could fill out a simple survey for me.

In my paper, I'm looking on how Social Class (What your socio-economic/ethnic background) dictates whether or not people get pierced. In my last paper, I looked at why people got modified and I had an extensive survey that over 60 people filled out. This time, I have a short survey, 8 questions, that you may answer on this entry or email to me at Lrddpy@hotmail.com

Here it is:

1) What race/ethnic background are you from?

2) How much money did your parents make a year?

3) How much money do you make a year?

4) How many piercings do you have?

5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)...

6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)?

7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family?

8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)?


I understand that many of these are pretty blunt / rude questions. If you do not feel comfortable answering here, feel free to email me, and if you don't feel comfortable having a name attached to the face, I will gladly label you as anonymous. If you still aren't convinced, make up a new email address and email me :) Thanks in Advance, Yates.

Cross Posted in:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/piercing/
http://www.livejournal.com/community/_modified
http://www.livejournal.com/community/ilovepiercings

(Post a new comment)

maideleh 2005-11-29 03:50 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Italian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? $22,000 3) How much money do you make a year? nothing 4) How many piercings do you have? 2 in each ear but many more planned 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? $200 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Professional 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I paid for them out of money from working or got them as presents from family or friends 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? I'm just glad I have health insurance because I got a massive infection in my left ear second hole that required hospital visit (Reply to this)

dayl 2005-11-29 04:07 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? russian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? 50,000 3) How much money do you make a year? almost nada... $10,000 (student) 4) How many piercings do you have? 5 if you include the 3 rather "normal" ones in my ears, 2 if not. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $400 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? i paid for it myself and got them professionally done... except for my ears... got those done at 7 so my mum paid for the "original" one in each ear 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? doesn't impact my familyat all. i don't live with them and they don't provide me with any money. I have worked since i was 15, and usually at more than job (full time and part time at the same time) 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? just antibiotics once for an infection so... $12 ***Just wondering, would having our age, gender, name be helpful too? ***23, female, Dayl (Reply to this)

madd_spammer 2005-11-29 04:08 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? caucasian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? 37,000, something like that? 3) How much money do you make a year? 11,000 4) How many piercings do you have? 11 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... ~600 in the past year or so on 'real' piercings (done with a needle), and probably a few hundred more on gunned piercings + jewelry... so in my lifetime, probably close to 1000 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? professionally done (or in the case of gunned piercings, 'professionally' done) 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? i have a job. the impact wasn't huge, because i space out the expenses. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? little impact. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	maideleh 2005-11-29 08:16 pm UTC (link)
	i love your icon. that woman scared meeee (Reply to this) (Parent)

wannadisco_ 2005-11-29 04:08 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? caucasian.. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? less than 30,000 3) How much money do you make a year? n/a 4) How many piercings do you have? 10 and more to come.. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... uh... maybe.. 200? 250? something like that.. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? most are professionally done, my ears and two others are self-done. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? they were gifts or my own money... 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? nope... (Reply to this)

taciturnly 2005-11-29 04:10 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? I am English, Irish, French, and German from my mom's side, and African-American, Native American, and Italian on my dad's 2) How much money did your parents make a year? $300,000 or more 3) How much money do you make a year? $50,000-60,000 4) How many piercings do you have? Currently: Lip, tongue, 3 holes in each lobe; Retired: Industrial, 2 cartilage, 2 navel, and nose 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $300 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? All were done professionally; all were paid for 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? Actually when I was younger I used my parents' credit card....a couple my friends paid for, and a couple I paid for 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? I haven't been to the dentist since I got my tongue/lip pierced; I know that I play with my tongue ring by rubbing it against my teeth. I don't know what kind of damage that may have done Just in case: 21, female, Noelle (Reply to this) (Thread)

	taciturnly 2005-11-29 04:23 am UTC (link)
	A continuation of question #7: I paid my parents back; it didn't have much of an impact on them, but more on me at the time (Reply to this) (Parent)

littlemachines 2005-11-29 04:19 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? I'm white, Irish if you need specifics. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? I know my father makes around 100K a year, my stepmother makes slightly less. 3) How much money do you make a year? Very little. I'm a college student. 4) How many piercings do you have? 13, 10 of them in my ears. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... A few hundred. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? My navel was done professionally, a few of my earrings were done professionally, but my lip, nose and most of my earrings were done by friends. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I've always had summer jobs, and it doesn't really impact me or my family, they just wish I'd spent the money on other things. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? They can be a pain, but it's no different than having contact lenses. You've gotta buy solution, get new lenses, etc. Just one more thing to maintain. (Reply to this)

iced_arctica 2005-11-29 04:20 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? german/polish 2) How much money did your parents make a year? i honestly dont know. my mom is a ballet teacher and my dad is some kinda engineer 3) How much money do you make a year? $5,000 or less. im in college 4) How many piercings do you have? 32 right now, but it goes up and down 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... well over $1,000 im sure. i've been pierced over 40 times 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? a few i did myself (ears, smiley) and a few my byofriend did (ears). most of them were done professionally 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? i pay for all my piercings myself, through working in the summer. a lot of my money goes to my modifications. although right now my piercer has become a good friend of mine and only charges me $20 a peircing. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? i had my tongue pierced and it cracked a tooth. my lip piercing has shown no troubles and neither has my smiley. i do have a nasty scar from a rejected nape piercing though. (Reply to this)

naked_oblivion 2005-11-29 04:24 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Ukranian/Polish/Italian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? 50,000 + (not sure exactly, sorry) 3) How much money do you make a year? depends..... normally 10-20,000 if I'm working full time. 4) How many piercings do you have? 21 piercings. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... Over 2000. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? All professionally done and paid for, except for some ear piercings I did myself. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I normally have a job, thus I pay for them myself. My mom has paid for teo of my piercings as a gift. My dad believes I could spend my money on more "productive" things, but since it is my own money, their isn't much of an impact. I choose to get them, so again, it is not an issue for me. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? I havent had and expenses as a result of piercings. My lip ring is placed properly and my tongue ring does not cause me any problems. The only expenses are directly for the piercings.... ie. soaps, rinses, jewelery etc. (Reply to this)

cme2694 2005-11-29 04:24 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Irish 2) How much money did your parents make a year? Middle-class 3) How much money do you make a year? $40,000 not including my husband 4) How many piercings do you have? 13 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $1000 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? I did lobe piercings myself, the rest I went to a professional for. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? Gifts, my own money/working. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? Have had no problems. (Reply to this)

relevancedenied 2005-11-29 04:42 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? German. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? About $30,000. 3) How much money do you make a year? About $3,500 (high school student) 4) How many piercings do you have? Eight. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $200+ 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Two lobe piercings were done by myself, the rest were professionally done. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? One piercing was a gift for my sixteenth birthday. The others I paid for myself by working part-time. It really hasn't had an impact at all. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? No other expenses as of yet. (Reply to this)

den_of_misery 2005-11-29 04:54 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? White... 2) How much money did your parents make a year? $150k 3) How much money do you make a year? $40k 4) How many piercings do you have? 13 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $200 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Professionally 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I paid for them with the money I earned...didn't impact me or my family at all 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? <10 Hope I helped (Reply to this)

kaitlee 2005-11-29 04:57 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? caucasian. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? 25,000-35,000 3) How much money do you make a year? $0. 4) How many piercings do you have? 8. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... somewhere around $250-$300, I'd guess. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? My lobes and two helixes are from the mall. My other piercings were done professionally and I paid for them. when I went from a 2g to a 0g in my lobes, I had my piercer taper them for free. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? my mom would usually pay for them. she sets aside money to be used for such fun things as this, so little impact. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? $0. (Reply to this)

	den_of_misery 2005-11-29 05:00 am UTC (link)
	Oh ok...ethnicity: 100% czech and i'm a college freshman ... yea ^_^ it's late sry (Reply to this)

psychotic_mess 2005-11-29 05:00 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? austrian/russian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? $50k 3) How much money do you make a year? around $5,000- I'm still in highschool 4) How many piercings do you have? 10 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... probably around...$100 ish. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? i have done the majority by myself but had a close friend do one. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? if i need to spend any money it's money i've earned on my own. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? NONE (Reply to this)

lovesick_cynic 2005-11-29 05:00 am UTC (link)

1) White anglo-saxon protestant 2) over $100,000 3) MAYBE $3,000 4) 3 5) $180 6) I got them professionally done at Sadu in Charlotte, NC. 7) I paid for all of mine with money that I earned/was given (gifts). However, this has impacted me negatively because my father (somehow) found out about them and docked me $80 of rent money (i pay for groceries, text books, gas, etc., parents do rent & tuition). So, that kind of hurts a little. 8) Definetely a small amount; the price of a tube of neosporin, i'd suppose. (Reply to this)

i_am_god_1 2005-11-29 05:10 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Black 2) How much money did your parents make a year? each makes around $500,000 3) How much money do you make a year? around $5000...im a poor intern 4) How many piercings do you have? Eight 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)...I'd say about $400 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? I got them done professionally but im also friends with the piercer 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I paid for them all. If i didn't at first i paid everyone back who i borrowed from. There really wasn't any impact at all. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? Never had any problems so...$0 By the way...my name is Cyrene, im 18, and im from jersey if that helps at all. (Reply to this)

theskytonight 2005-11-29 05:18 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? irish, german, english, french, i think a tiny bit native american is in there somewhere 2) How much money did your parents make a year? $200,000+ 3) How much money do you make a year? $30,000 4) How many piercings do you have? 18 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... A lot. Probably about 2K total 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Professionally, and yes, I paid for it. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I work to earn money, and this money I can dispense how I please. Its not too much trouble, actually. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? No problems as of yet, the only ones I can think of that would be problematic are my monroe and smiley.. The smiley I've had for 2 years, the monroe a year, and neither have bothered me. (Reply to this)

x__5472 2005-11-29 05:29 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? white... european background (i.e. russian, german, finnish, etc) 2) How much money did your parents make a year? i think around $65,000 3) How much money do you make a year? um i'd estimate around $4,000-$5,000 4) How many piercings do you have? 14. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... oh man. hold on, let me calculate. I'd say about $500. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? All of my piercings were done by a professional, so I paid for them all. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I paid for my own piercings and I got the money from jobs, or christmas money given to me by relatives. It didn't really impact my family since they didn't pay for any of it, but it impacted me because I've been tight on money a lot of times and instead of saving it or putting it to another use, I'd get another piercing. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? I've never had any related expenses because of my piercings, besides buying new jewelry for some. (Reply to this)

forsaken269 2005-11-29 05:39 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? white (irish descent) 2) How much money did your parents make a year? 50,000 3) How much money do you make a year? 20,000 4) How many piercings do you have? 11 (two retired) 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... $700 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? I have had all of mine professionally done. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I have paid for all of mine out of my own pocket with my own money, I have a full time job and got all of mine done during times in my life when I had few bills, so it has not impacted my family or their finances (might I add that I also paid off a '03 civic during this time) 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? I had to pay for a new conch bar and thats about it, oh and I bought vitamin E for my keliod but thats pretty much it. (Reply to this)

mistygirl 2005-11-29 05:50 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Caucasian. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? I don't know specific numbers, but pretty decent. 3) How much money do you make a year? Honestly, it depends on if I am in school or not. Pretty good if I'm not a student, I have a rolling career in the veterinary industry. However if I'm at school, it's a different story. 4) How many piercings do you have? 14. Was 18 until a month ago. Soon to be 15. 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... Hundreds. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Professionally, geezus. Is there any other way? :P 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I work hard for my money. This just keeps me from endulging in other extracurricular activities. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? None. (Reply to this)

devotchkaoioi 2005-11-29 06:14 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? dutch, english 2) How much money did your parents make a year? they make probably 90k 3) How much money do you make a year? hm 20k (im in college lol) 4) How many piercings do you have? 21 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... god lol 5000+ 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? professionally of course 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? my mom, my job, no impact. just keeps me from having extra stuff i dont need laying around 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? eh nothing worth talking about (Reply to this)

ohcrap_itsyou 2005-11-29 06:21 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? ehh, all i know about my background is that i am white except for the 1/16th of me that is cherokee 2) How much money did your parents make a year? less than 25K 3) How much money do you make a year? less than 10k (student) 4) How many piercings do you have? one right now (septum), my retired piercings include: side lip, medusa, 4 cartalige and 2 lobe 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... probably $250 or so. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? all were professionally done, the ear piercings were all gunned. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? birthday/christmas money, usually. it didn't impact my family because i got the money no matter what, i just chose to spend it on piercings. now, i pay for my own. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? nothin'. (Reply to this)

lil_insanity 2005-11-29 07:58 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? White. ^^; Specifically, 1/8 each German, Scottish, Irish, and British. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? Over $100,000 3) How much money do you make a year? Under $10,000 4) How many piercings do you have? 5- 16g earlobes, 2g earlobes, 6g navel 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... at least $500- about $250 on piercings and aftercare supplies, the rest on jewelry 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Three were done by a piercer, one set of earlobe piercings were done when I was younger in the mall 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? My parents paid for both sets of earlobe piercings, and I paid for the 6g navel. I didn't have a job at the time, so I saved up my birthday money and allowance for a few months. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? None (Reply to this)

galadflower 2005-11-29 08:01 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Norwegian 2) How much money did your parents make a year? About 52,000 3) How much money do you make a year? About 2,000 4) How many piercings do you have? One industrial piercing 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... Not much, about 150$ so far 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Got it professionally done 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? I'm a student who works part-time as a cleaner, so that's how I pay for it. It doesn't affect my economy much. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? Haven't had any problems, so nothing yet. (Reply to this)

sonnekinde 2005-11-29 08:40 am UTC (link)

1) What race/ethnic background are you from? Dutch. 2) How much money did your parents make a year? I honestly have no idea. 3) How much money do you make a year? $1500. That's nothing, but I still live with my parents. 4) How many piercings do you have? Six (all ear) 5) How much money do you think you have spent in your lifetime on piercings? Jewelry, Piercings, Stretching, Misc (Soap etc)... Some hundered dollar, I really woulnd't know exactly. 6) How did you get your piercings? Did you do them yourself? Get a friend to? Got it professionally done (Paid for it?)? Profesionally done. 7) If you paid for your piercings, Where do you get the money for them? How does this expense impact you / your family? My mother paid for most of them, but they weren't expensive so there was hardly any impact. Otherwise: allowance and my job. 8) What about expenses because of piercings (Dental problems & Tongue Rings, etc)? None so far. (Reply to this)

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