Gadling

berford,
Tsa doesn't have a clue with what they do. You are allowed to board with a screwdriver as long as it is not over 6" but can't have a pocket swiss utility knife or a leatherman utility knife????? where is the logic in that. None. Her belly button was pierced, her nipples were pierced and I would guess her ears and they pick on the nipple piercings???? The TSA agents are wannabe cops that could not qualify to be a cop and have an authority problem. They like to harass and if you challenge them at a security line they can detain you. A few sharp words and versed correctly can get your point across. The TSA management do not have an across the board policy for all airports where they follow the same procedures and policies. Go to Europe and Asia and you will see a better run continent. And we are suppose to be the leaders, we are so far behind everybody else. By the way berford you can do alot of damage with a 6" knife so don't go spouting off about 9/11. That was 7 years ago and our TSA home security still do not have it correct yet.

I never take off my watch or rings. Who makes you do this??? This is a stupid request!

Are you freaking serious!!! First off, you are not required to take out your jewelery for the metal detectors. I have piercings in my ears and in my nipples that cannot be removed...period!!! Nor have they ever set off a metal detector!!! The woman in this story did not set off the walk through detector. She was one of the lucky chosen ones for a more thorough search and it was the wand that was set off by her piercings. Please tell me how TSA was justified it doing what they did to this girl?!! Their own policy states that not only can a male agent NOT pat down a female passenger but said female passenger also has the right to elect to show a FEMALE agent the piercings in question OR can DECIDE OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL to remove piercings!!! NOWHERE in TSA policy does it say they are to be removed...IT DOES SAY they have a choice and this woman was not given that choice. These male agents singled her out because of her piercings and purposely humiliated her for their own entertainment and pleasure, of which the audible snickering is proof. At best is was cruel that they made her remove her piercings with an UN-SANITIZED pair of pliers. At worst they made a spectacle of the situation...unnecessarily. Additionally, removing a ring or a watch does not pose a health risk to the wearer. HOWEVER, removing a body modification, such as a nipple piercing, without the supervision of a PROFESSIONAL and a SANITIZED environment does.

You may feel that body modification is odd or silly but it was this girl's right to choose to have it done. You choose not to and that is your right. Because someone makes this choice does not give anyone the right to subject that person to humiliation. And body modification in no way represents a safety issue, pre- or post-911. Get a freakin' grip and update your outdated social attitudes!!!

I travel by air every week and I never remove any jewelry , including rings or watches. This just goes to show you what happens when you entrust national security to people who make $1o/hour.

It is clear to me, based on several lines of evidence, that the TSA officers in this case were taking advantage of an opportunity to enact misogynistic (hateful) feelings with regard to women, symbols of pleasure, and symbols of individual freedom, as well as to get off on the pain, anger, and humiliation of another person (a woman, in particular; perhaps an S and M kind of display). What evidence? Consider what earlier people have mentioned in the forum. Particularly: there is no way that these rings could serve as a weapon while larger metal objects could conceivably work in such a way; it is painful and humiliating to remove them; other small metal objects often make it through the screening process (belt buckles, small watches, etc.); a smaller metal detector should have enabled detection of possible threats without removing these rings. My suspicion is that people who favorable to these forced removals of body rings are people who are generally opposed to their use or who have control issues and, thus, are opposed to public expressions of this kind. BTW, although I shouldn't have to mention this, it happens that I am a guy; my name is Anthony (Some people make the amazing assumption that only women would make a big deal about these kinds of issues.).