Tattoos have been used in many cultures to identify beauty, position or status, and worth. They mark rites of passage, such as a life cycle event (marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, death), change in an individual’s social position, the progression from childhood to puberty, and the initiation into social and different family groups. For instance, both men and women of the Maori tribe of New Zealand are tattooed beginning at puberty. Individuals may also choose to have tattoos done for artistic, spiritual, or other personal reasons. There are similarities between the tattoos of men and women but the tattoos of the female Moko were generally confined to the chin and lips and were designed to attract a mate. It was thought that having a full set of very blue lips was the ultimate in beauty.
A tattoo is a permanent coloration of the second layer of skin (dermis) that is produced by puncturing the skin and inserting indelible inks of a chosen color in a selected pattern or design. The...
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Suggested Reading
Krakow, A. (1994). The total tattoo book. New York: Warner Books.
Schiffmacher, H., & Riemschneider, B. (1996). 1000 tattoos. Cologne: Taschen.
Suggested Resources
Alliance of Professional Tattooists: http://www.safe-tattoos.com
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© 2004 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
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Vidra, D., Loue, S. (2004). Tattoos. In: Encyclopedia of Women’s Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_428
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_428
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