A TikTok mom responded to criticism after she said she let her nine-year-old daughter get a nose piercing.
Meagan Black, who has 44,000 followers on TikTok, posted a video on December 20, which showed a close-up of her daughter’s face in the family’s security camera, where the child appeared to have a nose ring in her left nostril.
The clip went hugely viral, receiving 23 million views, and many viewers made comments about the piercing, asking how old the child was and whether it was a good idea to let her get a nose ring.
“Wait she is like 6 why does she have a nose ring?” one commenter asked, to which Black replied, “She’s 9 and because she asked for one.”
“Nose piercing and makeup!???” another commenter said, referring to mascara that the child appeared to be wearing the clip.
Some commenters suggested they thought the nose ring was fake, as they thought most piercing shops would not pierce a child, even saying they thought it was against the law.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 US states have laws that permit body piercing and tattooing on minors provided parental permission is provided.
Black posted several follow-up videos addressing the response to her video, writing in an on-screen caption on a post from December 23 that “it’s okay if she wants to express herself with a nose ring or mascara.”
Many commenters underneath this video were supportive of Black’s parenting.
“It’s wild that people are giving you hell for a nose ring. All I see is a mom letting her daughter express herself, and I can tell she’s in a house of love. You’re doing great,” one commenter wrote.
However, many left questions and criticism under the video, which Black filmed herself responding to while sitting next to her daughter in a video posted December 23.
She said her daughter’s nose ring was real and that they live in Illinois, where it is legal for a person under 18 years of age to get a piercing if a parent or guardian provides written consent and accompanies them to the appointment, according to state laws.
“I let her get her nose pierced because she does not like earrings. She says that they’re ugly and all she wanted was her nose pierced,” Black said in the video, while her daughter could be heard saying, “The nice people can say something about it. If you want to say something mean about it just don’t say anything please.”
It is not uncommon for girls to have their ears pierced when they are under 18, including infants. Celebrities like Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Hilary Duff have previously revealed they decided to pierce their children’s ears, facing criticism from other parents for doing so. Guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics advise parents “postpone the piercing until your child is mature enough to take care of the pierced site herself.”
In her TikTok, Black went on to respond to people who commented on the make-up her daughter was wearing in her video, saying, “She is allowed to wear mascara because she is naturally light blonde and her eyebrows and eyelashes are really light and she just wants a little color on them.”
Parents who share videos about how they raise their children often go viral for responding to questions about controversial parenting decisions. In October, Insider reported that a mom defended her decision to wax her three-year-old daughter’s eyebrows after commenters said she was too young for the treatment, sparking controversy, and in December, a mom started a debate on the platform when she doubled down on her decision to feed her baby snacks from the floor.
Meagan Black did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider’s Digital Culture team here.
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