Gold Earring Backs

Men and the earring thing

"Your wife will love these," the woman cashier says, handing him the bag.

"They are not for my wife," the man replies. "They are for me."

Earrings are no longer limited to women's fashion ware. Ignoring traditional notions, men have jumped on the bandwagon to spot diamond studs with style and finesse.

"I noticed a lot of men doing it and I often asked myself, 'What would I look like if I did it,'" says Oaitse Kedisang of Gaborone. "Would people look at me as not being straight? Would it really be a masculine thing for me to do? But then I thought I could care less what other people think. It's something that I wanted to do."

In the early 1980s, unwritten social rules would have restricted Kedisang to wearing a single stud earring in the left ear.

Anything too flashy or in the wrong ear was considered taboo.

Nowadays, however, earrings on men have become so common that you may not notice whether it is a man or a woman passing by wearing them.

From businessmen and actors to musicians, sports stars and blue-collar workers, earrings have evolved from a shocking male fashion statement to an everyday accessory. Most teenagers claim that they took it from a growing list of universally acclaimed role models like Puff Diddy (Sean Combs), basketball star Michael Jordan and England and LA Galaxy icon David Beckham.

But according to Gobonwang Diteko, a student at Limkokwing University, a man sporting studs is decidedly not straight. "It's either he's gay or he just loves to follow the trends in fashion these days," Diteko says. "But most likely, he's gay because gay men like putting on a little jewellery, probably because it makes them feel feminine."

Former Gaborone United and national team striker, Patrick Zibochwa, always sports earrings; so does his son, Pontsho Moloi. Singing sensation, Eugene Jackson, says he wears earrings to complement his unique sense of style.

"It's about swagger," he enthuses. "It started some years back. It's an American culture thing. We are not Western, but somehow we are influenced by Western culture. With me it's all about image for my music and what I think the ladies will love."

His buddy, Dithuso Selepeng, who is popularly known as DT, sees no harm in sporting studs either. Infact, the reggae star has gone beyond wearing earrings; he actually pierced his tongue while on tour in Malaysia back in the mid-90s.

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I got attacked by a Doberman nearly two weeks ago and had 50 stitches in my face, so I will probably have a bloody big scar and have to wait 9 months for skin grafts until it all heals properly

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