Amateur and professional tattoos
Tattooing among females of the Koita people of
Papua New Guinea
traditionally began at age five and was added to each year, with the
V-shaped tattoo on the chest indicating that she had reached
marriageable age. Photo taken in 1912.
Many tattoos serve as
rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of
fertility, pledges of love, punishment,
amulets
and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and
convicts. The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places
and cultures. Tattoos may show how a person feels about a relative
(commonly mother/father or daughter/son) or about an unrelated person.
[7] Today, people choose to be tattooed for artistic, cosmetic, sentimental/
memorial,
religious, and
magical reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal gangs (see
criminal tattoos) or a particular ethnic group or law-abiding subculture. Some
Māori still choose to wear intricate moko on their faces. In
Cambodia,
Laos, and
Thailand, the
yantra tattoo is used for protection against evil and to increase luck.
[citation needed] Biblical tattoos in western culture are still very popular. Many people mainly Christians will have a
Psalm or
verse from the Bible tattooed on their body although some people will still have tattoos from the
Bible despite not being Christian. Popular verses include, John 3:16, Philippians 4:13, and Psalms 23.
[8]
In the
Philippines
certain tribal groups believe tattoos have magical qualities, and help
to protect their bearers. Most traditional tattooing in the Philippines
is related to the bearer's accomplishments in life or rank in the tribe.
[citation needed]
Extensive decorative tattooing is common among members of traditional
freak shows and by performance artists who follow in their tradition.
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