A Celebration of Myself

At A Glance Author Ravenwood Contact Ravenwood@bme.anon Artist James Ann Barlow (for the piercing) Studio Black Hills Tattoo and Piercing Location Rapid City, South Dakota

Four years ago, my husband and I were watching an episode of "Real Sex" on HBO one night. A young woman was showing off her labial piercing to the camera, and I was transfixed. I commented, "Wow! That looks beautiful!" My husband looked at me like I was insane.

Perhaps I was insane, but I couldn't shake the image of that lovely labia with its gold ring. One of my friends ran a tattoo and piercing service in town, so I asked her questions about body piercing when I came in to get my tattoo done. My friend answered my questions with precision and good humor, and that was that.

Four years passed. My friend's tattoo and piercing parlor closed, so the closest place I could get my work done was two hours north, in Rapid City. I had two more children to add to my growing family, and after my last child, I had my tubes tied. I weaned my last child from my breasts four months later, and it was then that I realized that my body was my own. I decided to celebrate that fact with a body piercing, and I wanted the same sort of piercing I had seen on "Real Sex" four years previous.

I didn't know where to begin, so I dragged out the Rapid City Yellow Pages and looked up "Tattoo Artists." Black Hills Tattoo and Piercing seemed pretty easy to find (just off the main drag), and their hours were something I could meet. I called and asked about body piercing. The man who answered the phone politely asked me if I would like to speak to one of the piercers, and I said, "Yes, please!" He transferred my call to James Ann Barlow.

James Ann had apprenticed under Donna, and both she and Donna had written the guidelines for body piercers for certification in the state of South Dakota. One-use needles, autoclave sterilization ... and a reasonable price, too boot. She sounded very professional and competent over the phone, and the impression she left me with was of someone who took her job seriously.

I told my husband of my desire to get pierced. He was not very pleased about my desire to get pierced. We discussed the procedure in detail, and I realized why he was less than thrilled with my decision. My husband is Jewish, and to him, a tattoo or a body piercing is a desecration of God's temple (the body). I explained to him that a piercing was my way of celebrating my sexuality, and ornamenting the temple, not desecrating it. We eventually came to an understanding: he was not happy with the piercing, but as it is my body, he said he would support me in whatever I decided to do.

I decided to get the piercing done after my birthday, when we going to be up in Rapid City picking up his brother from the airport. We drove up to Rapid City, and after lunch, found Black Hills Tattoo and Piercing, where we met the tattoo artists and the body piercers. I met the woman I spoken to over the phone, James Ann Barlow.

James Ann turned out to be a woman my age (38), blonde, blue-eyed. She revealed that she had been pierced, too, and her manner put my husband at ease. She had a professional, pleasant attitude about her, and she patiently answered my questions (and my husband's). She carefully explained the procedure to me, and also made sure I understood the aftercare for my piercing. I was a little apprehensive. I've had five kids, so I was pretty sure that a labial piercing would be nothing in comparison to labor pains, but the explanations allayed my anxieties, and after I signed the paperwork, I was ready to go.

We went to her office for the piercing. (My husband was not allowed to watch, so he waited in the lobby.) Her office was as clean as the doctor's, but much homier, with plants and mythological images. We laughed and joked about her boss (an old biker from way back when) and his dead-pan joke delivery. While I lay on the table, she explained the procedure to me again, while she put on her gloves. She readied my left outer labia for piercing, and when the actual piercing happened, all I can say was I felt a stinging sensation, but I stayed still on the table. Then, the endorphins kicked in, and she showed me the placement of the ring and the capture bead. It wasn't like I had seen on the woman from the episode of "Real Sex," but it didn't matter, especially when James Ann explained that the capture bead would offer a little more stimulation.

My husband was waiting for me as I got dressed. I heard James Ann say, "She did great. She didn't even flinch when the needle went in." I felt like I was walking on air - just totally wonderful.

We met friends for coffee that afternoon, before picking up my brother-in-law from the airport. I was high as a kite on the endorphins, and I felt pretty sexy with that ring in my pussy. During my brother-in-law's stay, I did tell him that I had gotten the piercing done. He was a lot more positive about my piercing than my husband.

It's been three months since I've gotten that piercing. I was surprised at how quickly I healed up, and James Ann's insistence on proper aftercare was, I believe, instrumental. I can honestly say it's a beautiful thing, and I am definitely interested in having a few more done on my body (nipples, navel, clitoral hood, other outer lip). It not only has enhanced the look of my labia, it has also made sex a lot more pleasurable for me. It took four years for me to honestly say now that my body is my own, and my labial piercing is a fitting way for me to say that.