My mother tells me, "You don't have to flaunt your sexuality in order to be proud of it," and I wonder what my nipples have to do with my sexuality.

When I told my ex I was thinking about thinking about getting my nipples pierced, he simply said, "No."

And then, it was move-in day. The new freshman and their woeful families gathered along either side of the street, unloading the last 18 years of their life into another room. And as I glided by, looking fly in my crop top that subtly and sophisticatedly accentuated my newly jeweled nip nips you wouldn't believe the look of horror that washed over each and every mother. I know - I know - they immediately wondered if their precious cargo would come back a nipple-pierced, confident, college whore.

Yikes! A little brash, sure, but you wouldn't believe the looks of disgust, horror, and pity that I get from these mothers on the side of the street. And as the story goes, it's not only mothers that give me looks of "oh my God!" and "would you believe?" No, men and women of all ages, my generation included, have strong opinions about nipple piercings. It seems it's either "WOW! Those are badass, did it hurt??" or "But what about breastfeeding" or "That's trashy." Otherwise, there is no in between.

However, getting my nipples pierced was one of the best, most confidence boosting decisions I've ever made, and even when I get stared down condescendingly by Republican mothers on the street, I feel proud to be expressing myself in a way that I feel both comfortable and beautiful doing.