Tattoo / Tribe
Outsiders / Insiders
Once signs of “outlaw” status in the West, tattoos have become normalized, even badges of conformity in some circles. Still, facial and neck ink mark (so to speak) the bearer as an outsider from bourgeois society, a self-selecting member of a self-defining tribe.
I imagine the woman (left), whom I ran into on a NYC subway, carefully chose images that have magic and power for her, recreating some personal mythology.
The facial tattoos of this woman (right) in southern Iraq are likely utterly conventional in her world. Tattoos, forbidden in much of Islam (and Judaism), identify her as a member of a nomadic tribe and could have been applied to enhance strength, health, fertility, or simply to make her more beautiful.
Motivations for decorating your body with tattoos vary across people and cultures. After Justin left rural Vermont for the big city, he acquired knuckle and neck tattoos—as part of an irrevocable decision not to join conventional society.
But oh, the courage or folly of getting a tattoo in your teens or 20s that may be an embarrassment or worse at age 60. Or putting it on a part of the body to which the years are not kind.
The necessity to fit into a particular society explains tribal tattoos. However as someone who often values the ability to go unnoticed I am amazed at the desire for tattoos on faces and hands in a society that often allows people to define themselves by their appearance. There are so many ways to say Look at me NOW. !!! with make up, clothes, hair, nails. Elements that can easily changed to present a new image. Even a person who wants to spend their whole life on main stage might want or need to find a different audience.
So true!