Pearling (body modification)
Pearling or genital beading is a form of
Procedures
There are two common procedures, one being very similar to a frenum piercing and the other being similar to inserting a subdermal implant, and requiring more medical knowledge and specialized tools. Either procedure is relatively safe with risks and healing much like a subdermal implant in any other part of the body, although, like many genital piercings, the generous blood flow to the genitals can reduce healing times considerably. Inflammation is very common, during and after healing, although careful healing can minimize this. Rejection is rare, but can occur.
Jewelry
A wide variety of inert implant materials can be used for this implant.
History and culture
The precise origin of pearling is unknown, but early documentation in China indicates that it had been imported from Southeast Asia no later than the early 1400s. Historical documents refer to the inserts as miǎnlíng (
The best-known historical use of pearling involves the yakuza organized crime syndicates of Japan, whose members perform several notable types of body modification, including large body irezumi tattoos and Yubitsume, the amputation of finger joints in penance to their superiors. Pearling is performed in prison by the yakuza, with each pearl supposedly symbolizing a year spent in prison.[4]
Pearling, called 'bolitas', has become a common practice among
The practice comes from Pre-colonial period in the Philippines wherein instruments such as the Tudruck (Penis-pin) and Sakra (Penis-ring), often made up of gold or ivory, were inserted to the penises of young adults.
Both young and old males pierce their penises with a gold or tin rod the size of a goose quill. In both ends of the same bolt, some have what resembles a spur, with points upon the ends; others are like the head of a cart nail. I very often asked many, both young and old, to see their penis, because I could not credit it. In the middle of the bolt is a hole, through which they urinate. The bolt and the spurs always hold firm. They say that the women wish it so, and if they did otherwise they would not have communication with them. When a man wishes to have intercourse with a woman, she takes his penis not in the normal way, but gently introduces first the top spur and then the bottom one into her vagina. Once inside, the penis becomes erect and cannot be withdrawn until it is limp.
Antonio Pigafetta[7]
References
- S2CID 162913992.
- ISBN 9789089640918.
- ISBN 971-550-135-4
- S2CID 248029059.
- ^ Henry Trotter, What's the deal with your penis?!, accessed 18 May 2007
- ^ Jacobs, Ryan (9 August 2013). "The Strange Sexual Quirk of Filipino Seafarers". The Atlantic Monthly.
- ^ Quoted in Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander Robertson (1906). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898 Volume 33, Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark Company, p. 171
External links
- BME Wiki: Genital beading Archived 2006-07-21 at the Wayback Machine