Interesting question. I have read a number of articles about women of color being tired of and annoyed by white women wearing big hoops. I understand that. It is jewelry that is heavily associated with their culture.

I don’t think that is to say that all white women should wear dainty earrings and here’s why: white women have been controlled by a white male culture. So basically, our only identities, related to our culture, have been to stay do and wear whatever white men have dictated as appropriate.

For centuries, women were forced to cover their hair and heads with bonnets. Even our ears in their natural state were unacceptable. Then we go to get rid of our stupid fucking bonnets. But, still, pierced ears were totally inappropriate. Hence, the huge popularity of clip-on earring through the 50s.

I don’t think that white women are relegated to being stuck in a patriarchal box to wear small understated earrings because we have no historical or cultural tie to them.