How did Ear Stretching Start in the U.S?

[necholahnnn]

Hello everyone:)
im doing a project and im missing one general info. How did ear stretching start in the U.S?

And what were some of everyones reason why they started to do it?

Id really appreciate it! Thank you!

[caadam]

I think it would be all right to say that you're better off doing your own research than having one of us do it for you. It's your project, not ours, after all. Look up how it started yourself, and then you can tell us!

[ireland896]

In 1975, Jim Ward opened the first piercing studio in the United States called the Guantlet Piercing Studio. With Doug Malloy, they pioneered modern piercing practices through trial and error. Many of the developed practices are still the standard practices today. As for the stretching of the piercings, outside of early Native American practices, they didn't start showing up until Fakir Musafar came onto the scene. Fakir studied tribal ritual and modification from cultures around the world and performed many of these rituals on himself seeking spiritual enlightenment. Fakir and Jim became partners and collaborated on how to bring cultural rituals to the US. With a very small following, body modification slowly started to grow. Because body piercing was not seen or excepted to the public, most did not go as far as stretching. The few that did were usually dedicated enough to learn the craft and become piercers themselves. With a growing population determined to stand out and be an individual, more extreme modifications were being done. Although the stretching of the ears and other piercings have been around for thousand of years, it hadn't gained popularity in the US until the mid to late 1980's.

Some names you may look into:
Jim Ward
Fakir Musafar
Shannon Larratt

Hope this helps, good luck