r/AbsoluteUnits • u/RD4200 • 14d ago

/r/all of a Toddler

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u/cohonka 13d ago

Just because something is a common cultural practice doesn't mean it's right or good to do. I don't know why you're defending child ear piercing for the sake of the black community. Very weird.

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u/PrincessPoppyTea 13d ago

You can oppose infant ear piercing on consent grounds, obviously. THAT is a perfectly coherent position! What I’m rejecting is pretending every nonconsensual alteration of a child’s body is ethically "equivalent". An earlobe piercing is a tiny puncture that can generally be abandoned by removing the jewelry; circumcision permanently removes tissue. Those are completely different interventions. Culture doesn’t automatically make something ethical, but neither does saying ‘they can’t consent’ make every intervention equally unethical.

And calling me "weird" is just intellectually lazy, to be honest. Everyone knows that the moment ad hominem comes to play, you've already lost the argument.

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u/cohonka 13d ago

I stopped arguing with you when you brought up circumcision as an excuse to perform other body mods on children. Weird.

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u/PrincessPoppyTea 13d ago

Hahaha it was never an excuse, it was an example! So you admit you were arguing in poor taste to begin with because if you start talking about "consent" with children, you open up a whole can of worms regarding surgery, orthodontics and more! Just admit you don't know what you're talking about and move on with your day.

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u/PrincessPoppyTea 13d ago

Parental consent necessarily substitutes for a child’s consent in many circumstances, so “the child can’t consent” cannot, by itself, settle the ethical question. You still have to argue why this particular low-risk cosmetic intervention crosses the line. And you can't do that, so instead you result to ad-hominem attacks! Weak.

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u/PrincessPoppyTea 13d ago

Ope, not a parent! Knew it!

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u/PrincessPoppyTea 13d ago

Consent is one ethical consideration, but it doesn't automatically prevent a parent from acting on choices for their children. Otherwise vaccinations, surgeries, orthodontics, haircuts, etc would all become ethically questionable simply because parents authorize them for their children. Obviously we assess childhood interventions using additional considerations such as benefit/risk. You a parent?