There is some kind of misunderstanding around the wearing of piercings. People think it is just merely to be "different" or "opposite" and "not wanting to fit in" while in fact it is the "need to fit in" and "belong". It really feels like a struggle in life, and people totally judge it, from the job market, to relationships to "if you belong or not".
I felt piercings are part of a (self) sacrificial culture, depending on your intentions. Some people just wear it to "show off" or "belong to a culture they don't really understand". In western culture it sometimes is viewed as being "deviant" or "suicidal", which in some ways can be true, because you can dare to be different, but THAT is actually an effect, not a goal. In Indian Culture Men Never wear a jewellery on their nose, also not to sympathize with a woman's life, and also it is not part of the culture that men prettify their face in such a way, also not with a ring through their nose. It is a (self) sacrificial ritual in the core, because it has to do with a readiness for or actual marriage ritual, at least the first nose piercing, but in some cultures it is said the following on the right or left side of the nose:
Right side in Europe is considered feminine (guy with pierced right side of ear/nose is considered gay) while left is male (girl with nose piercing on left side of nose is considered lesbian) In India left side is considered feminine and people believe it refuses period and child birth pain. This is the social contradiction and stigma that people are not talking about. WHAT if you just wanne wear a Piercing with your OWN MEANING to it?! In my world the nose piercing stands for the (self) sacrifice that Marriage is, because the nose piercing usually is worn from the start of the marriage, in Indian culture. It was however supposed to make a face with jewellery more interesting to look at, instead of the wearing of NO piercings, just like earrings in the earlobes. It is a jewellery accessory from a different culture.
In the other cultures there are women that even can wear multiple nose rings, where I found it can symbolize multiple relationships that you care about. For me in the end my nose piercings symbolize my intimate religious feelings.
I believe in the following:
-Holy Symmetry (Male and Female Polarity, Yin and Yang, Autonomy of the Woman)
-Holy Trinity
-Straight line (Paradise)
-Circle (Paradise Incarnate)
These are totally different meanings I feel because I do think about what I feel about life and would like to symbolize in my life. It is merely sad that people, a lot of people cannot understand the meaning and it is merely a riddle. It is merely an explanation of how I see life, it has nothing NOTHING to do with Lesbian or Gay culture, not really in the Indian Culture at least. Even stronger, I'm that converter actually.