05/01/2026
This photo hits a deep place in me.
My daughter just turned 4. She’s smart, present, and she understands far more than people expect. So we waited—on purpose—until she could truly understand what an earlobe piercing is, what it feels like, and that it’s her body. And she wanted it and chose to have it.
For years I heard the same thing: “Why haven’t you done it yet?” Her grandmother even gifted her a gold earring and kept reminding me again and again to pierce her ears. In my culture, you don’t usually “wait for consent” with things like this. People see it as silly. I don’t.
Because underneath this is something heavier.
As a boy, part of my body was cut in the name of religion—without my consent, without my understanding, without my choice. When you sit with that reality, it leaves a mark. So with my daughter, I made a decision: I will not treat her body like it belongs to tradition, family pressure, or anyone’s beliefs. It belongs to her.
And I’m proud of this—quietly, deeply proud—that for four years I have protected her bodily autonomy. No needles, no “just because” procedures, nothing done to her without real reason and real understanding.
When I look at her in this photo—her softness, her innocence, her wholeness—I feel the beauty of how humans are created. And I feel grateful that in at least this one cycle, I chose a different path.
Her body. Her choice. Her timing. 💛