‘Ear rings are meant for slaves’

Women are known for their love of jewellry: chains, wristwatches, rings, bracelets, ear rings, brooches, tiaras, etc. However, of all forms of jewellry, the ear ring is not just an adornment but a symbol of womanhood.

It is not a common sight to see a woman without ear rings, especially in public. Even when they don’t have other jewellry pieces on, they have ear rings. Such is the importance of ear rings to them that they start wearing them from when they are still babies.

Therefore, it is astounding that some women don’t actually wear this all-important female accessory. Mrs Bunmi George is one such female dissident of the norm.

Her reason for not wearing ear rings is shocking, to say the least. “I don’t wear ear rings because they are meant for slaves,” she told this reporter. “According to the Bible, ear rings differentiate slaves from their masters. Even the nose ring too indicates slavery. So they are not meant for children of God as they indicate that those wearing them are slaves.”

George’s severe condemnation of wearing ear rings becomes more surprising when she admitted that she used to wear them before.

“You will understand me better when I let you know that I too have worn ear rings in times past. But I’ve seen the light now and I’m saved. When I was wearing them then, someone preached to me to stop wearing them because of what they really stand for.

“But I didn’t believe the preacher. I felt he was preaching arrant nonsense. He quoted scriptures to prove his point but my ears were sealed. Finally, I stopped wearing them when the Holy Spirit spoke directly to me that I was to stop doing so.”

But popular actress, Thelma O’Khaz, doesn’t agree with George. “If she says ear rings are meant for slaves, that is her own personal opinion. I certainly don’t think so myself. As a matter of fact, I don’t feel complete as a lady without my ear rings.”

Adding that ear rings make her feel more feminine, and that she prefers loud ones that will make people admire her more, she gave her own view of why some ladies don’t wear them. “Some ladies feel ear rings are heavy on their ears and make them feel uncomfortable so they prefer not to wear them.”

One lady who probably falls into this category is Chidinma, a waitress at a restaurant inside the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS). This reporter spotted her ringless ears and immediately asked her why she was without them.

“I don’t wear ear rings or chains because I just don’t like them,” was her simple and instant response.

When pressed for a more definitive and substantial reason, she kept saying it’s a personal choice. She however admitted that she had also worn them at an earlier point in her life.

Yet another lady who commented on the use or non-use of ear rings is Uloma Wabara. “Ear rings are part of the ornaments that beautify ladies,” she said. “They are also part of the identification of young babies so when you see a baby wearing ear rings, you know it’s a female child.”

Opposing George on the slave theory, she said, “I disagree with that slave reason. Wearing ear rings is not compulsory and if someone decides to stop wearing them, it’s understandable, but not for the person to start saying that we that wear them are slaves.

“I know a bit of the Bible myself, so I know that jewellry was also in vogue in biblical times. When the Israelites left Egypt, they left with a lot of jewellries. If ear rings are truly a mark of slavery, why did the Israelites use those jewellries they had, among which were ear rings, for a golden cow to worship? Why not burn them instead if they were a mark of slavery?”

George’s decision to stop wearing ear rings wasn’t without drama. She still recalls that the decision and subsequent implementation met a lot of raised eyebrows. “When I stopped wearing ear rings, I was working at the Internal Revenue Service at Mulero, Agege. My coworkers were so shocked that they couldn’t hide their comments.

“They would say to me ‘You’re no longer beautiful, you have become an SU,’ but I told them I’m even more beautiful without ear rings. One of them tried to convince me of the supposed error of my way by saying ‘I’m a Christian too and I’m wearing a small set of ear rings. You can do the same too.’ I told her that small or big, I didn’t want to look like a slave again.”

Like most women wearing ear rings, George had several pairs in her wearing days. “I threw them all away when I stopped. I didn’t give them out to people as what I cannot eat, I won’t give people.”

She isn’t the only one who has had drama because of ear rings. A young lady, Busola Odugbemi, has an on-off relationship with them. Her father is a church owner who forbids his congregation from wearing them. As such, his daughter certainly shouldn’t wear them.

Busola however doesn’t really see anything wrong with them. “When I’m at home or in the church which is not far from our house, I don’t wear ear rings because I can’t afford to set a bad example for my father’s flock and allow them the excuse of saying that the pastor’s daughter wears ear rings after all.

“But when I’m in school at Unilag, I wear them all the time. My friends there wouldn’t understand if I don’t do so. To be candid, it’s not that I wear them in school as a result of peer pressure, but the thing is that I really don’t see any big deal about wearing them and I actually like them.

“But since I have to be a good daughter to my parents, I don’t wear them at home not to offend them. But at school or when I go out of the area is a different thing. I remember one day that I had a close call. I was on ear rings and one of our church elders entered the bus I was in. I quickly slipped off the ear rings before she spotted me. If she saw me and told my parents, it wouldn’t have been funny at all.”