Can we wear earrings?
Put, it depends what you mean by sense. Earrings don’t confer special powers, although sailors used to believe earrings could improve eyesight, and they don’t serve a practical purpose. But earrings have been around for thousands of years. Ötzi the Iceman (a mummy that is thousands of years old) had slightly stretched ears. Ancient Egyptian children are believed to have worn earrings. Men like William Shakespeare wore earrings during the English Renaissance. Dus, wearing earrings is part of a long tradition.
That is where earrings make sense. Earrings are a way to express oneself. In die algemeen, piercings can show one’s fashion sense, group identity, and spiritual beliefs. In Hindu dharmic tradition, many girls get their ears pierced as part of a dharmic rite. Westerners tend not to view their actions a ritualistic, but many Western girls get their ears pierced as a rite of girlhood. These days, more boys are getting ears pierced too as their own right.
As mentioned above, piercings can be part of personal expression. Look at the wide array of earrings people wear. Plugs, silver hoops, large diamonds, crosses, and little enamel pizza slices are all ways we see people express themselves with earrings. Go into any mall and take stock of the variety of earrings. Earrings also can express group identity. I have 18 ear piercings, including my tragus and daith (and also including other face and body piercings). It’s probably no surprise that I identify as “alternative.” For me, getting my ears pierced for the first time was a right of passage. My later piercings were a way to express myself and look unique. I don’t see many folks with the exact amount and type of piercings I have.
From a cultural perspective, ear piercings make sense. To say otherwise would undermine all rites of passage and personal expression. Byvoorbeeld, does it make sense to wear suits to work? What purpose do they serve? Practically speaking, they don’t serve any use. But suits in one shape or form have existed for hundreds of years, and the suits of today are connected to what men (and some women) have been wearing for a long time. Suits tell us a lot about the wearer (where they work, their means, their fashion sense) just like earrings follow a long tradition and hint at the wearer’s background.
Things don’t need to be practical to be important, particularly when they carry such a long history. It’s enough that they simply exist. When someone gets their ears pierced, they are participating in their culture and engaging with history. That’s a powerful thing.