What’s in a name? Well, names carry a ton of weight from slang terms for piercings sometimes leading to miscommunication, to the occasional confusion of the uses of Labret. We’ve even updated many terms in attempts to be more inclusive in our industry, such as swapping from “male and female” piercings to “penile and vulva” piercings- both a more accurate term and a more inclusive term. The industry has had a huge push in this direction and has honestly made me proud in terms of how quickly the community has picked up and begun using language that makes clients feel safer and more included. So that brings me to the topic of discussion for today. Dahlia piercings. When we look at all the progress we’ve made in language so far….why is this term sticking around?
What Are Dahlia Piercings?
Dahlia is the commonly used term to refer to piercing placed in the vicinity of the corners of the mouth. These piercings are not through the less structural tissue of the lip, but also not through the denser, more structural tissue of the cheeks, but rather a bit of an in-between of the two. These piercings can carry a high risk of tooth and gum damage, chipped teeth, and difficulty healing, but tend to be easier overall than cheek piercings for healing. You can learn more specifically about these piercings here.
Now, why do we call them dahlia piercings? They were given the moniker after the horrific murder of Elizabeth Short, also known as the black dahlia murder. Her unsolved case made headlines nationally because of the gruesome state her body was found in, mutilated in multiple ways including slashes from the corners of her mouth to her ears. It’s these particular wounds that inspired the naming of these piercings. During different points in time, these have also been referred to as Glasgow piercings (after a Glasgow smile, similar wounds from the corners of the lips to the ears) Chelsea piercings (after a Chelsea grin, same as the Glasgow smile), and Joker piercings (after the comic book character known for sporting these same wounds). Through all of these different nicknames, Dahlia stuck and has become the common term for these piercings.
However, in an industry striving to be as inclusive and safe as possible, naming a piercing placement after a murder victim’s horrific death and mutilation does not seem to be a very inclusive thing to do. In general, there is an issue with the commodification of violent crime in today’s day and age, with “serial killer” podcasts and fan pages causing documents distress and hurt for the families of the victims. We are glorifying mass murderers and serial killers in a way that many point out is concerning at best, and extremely hurtful to the survivors and families at worst. This to me goes against the ethos of body modification as a practice rooted in healing, helping, and positive interactions and impact. The name ‘Dahlia’ to me feels reminiscent of a time when we wanted to be edgy and ‘cool’ more than we wanted to be safe and inclusive.
As the industry has changed, it is going to be sometimes necessary for our language and terms to change. But how do we do that? How do we get hundreds of thousands of people to change the way they refer to a piercing, especially a term ingrained like this? Well, I’d like to think having this conversation is a solid start. In full transparency, this is something I’ve already been discussing with other piercers behind closed doors, and one I’ve seen come up in forums online a few times. I’m hoping by writing this blog I can bring this conversation to a larger audience and we can perhaps come together as a community to work on making this language more inclusive.
Which begs the big question…what do we call them instead?
Inner Cheek Piercings- This is personally what I’m trialing at my studio, and one I’m a fan of. It’s no secret I prefer anatomically accurate names for piercings to cut down on miscommunication around piercings. For me, this language has it all. These piercings are replaced more toward the center of the face than traditional cheek piercings (hence inner). The tissue they pass through is more similar to cheeks than it is to lip piercings, so this also conveys the tissue difference and the healing difference, with cheeks being harder to heal. It’s concise, it describes the placement and tissue type, and the usage of cheeks also carries the connotation of more difficult healing, an important distinction to make.
Corner Lip Piercings- This is another term I’ve seen floating around, and I do also think it’s a very accurate descriptor of the placement (in the corners of the mouth). I do worry people will see lip in the name and assume this healing process is similar to lip piercings when it’s more challenging, but I think proper consultation and informed consent could eliminate that worry so I do also like the language.
Inner Lip Piercings- I don’t love this because to me inner is the center line of the face and these are further out from that? I also don’t feel like this accurately describes placement in a way that limits miscommunication.
If you have any other suggested language you use for these let me know so I can add it to this blog post and get more input from folks at large about what sounds best for these! I hope to inspire conversations in studios and among clients to find language that feels suitable for this placement but is also more inclusive and safer.
<3 Lynn