From the time I was a little girl, thought that nose rings were pretty. We were allowed a single ear piercing and tasteful earring rings, although the parameters of which were entirely at the discretion of my parents and sometimes made random sense. But they made it very clear that if the boys ever came home with a ear piercing like “a homosexual”, or if the girls pierced our noses, they would be ripped out. Plain and simple. I don’t believe I ever heard my parents say “faggot” but the message for my brothers was clear, the consequences would be far more dire for them than a shredded ear lobe.