Body modification is something that has been practiced by humans for thousands of years. Cultures all around the world have practiced various forms of body piercing and modification, with the exception of Western cultures where these modifications only began to emerge over the past 40 years or so.

Today, body piercing in all its forms can be found seemingly everywhere, and this has given people the opportunity to express their own unique style. There is now a holiday that helps people do just that. This holiday is known as International Body Piercing Day, and it’s observed annually on June 28th.

The History Of International Body Piercing Day

Humans have been piercing their bodies for cosmetic, ritualistic, and metaphysical reasons since prehistoric times. Evidence gathered by archaeologists has shown that the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Sumerians, Persians, Babylonians, Aztecs, and numerous other ancient cultures have practiced piercing.

For some cultures, it was a rite of passage or a status symbol. For example, in India, piercing was seen as not only a sign of marital status but also of wealth. In American culture, piercing hasn’t always been so prevalent.

Although piercing has existed in one form or another since before the country was founded, it wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that body piercing’s popularity would really begin to rise in the United States.

The popularity of this art form would continue to rise for the next couple of decades but really got a boost during the 1990s when it became a popular form of fashion and personal expression. A wide variety of different piercings became popular during the 1990s, including tongue, nose, eyebrow, and lip piercings.

Genital piercings also became popular during this time as more men decided to get a Prince Albert — a form of male genitalia piercing that involves piercing through the skin at the base of the penis and inserting a beaded ring or barbell through the hole and out through the urethra.

Of course, this is only one type of male genital piercing that became popular during this time. Others included the Reverse Prince Albert, the Deep Shaft Reverse Prince Albert, the Magic Cross, the King’s Crown, and the Hafada (scrotum) piercing. Women had their fair share of genital piercings as well, including Christina Piercings, Clitoral Hood Piercings, and Labia Piercings, among others.

Although we’re unsure of when International Body Piercing Day was first created, we do know why it was placed on June 28th. It’s placed on this day because that is the birthday of Jim Ward — a cosmetic piercing pioneer who ran the first professional piercing studio in California in 1978. This holiday has been observed for several years and will probably remain a popular holiday well into the future.

Observing International Body Piercing Day

Getting a piercing, learning more about piercing, or spreading the love of piercings to friends and family are just some of the ways to observe this holiday. People can also use the hashtag #InternationalBodyPiercingDay to spread the word about it as well.