We spoke with three proudly tattooed women in Taiwan. One would gladly show off her tattoos in public – while hiding them from her parents for seven years.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/10/20
By: TJ Ting

If you are deciding whether or not to get a tattoo, you are likely considering numerous factors. There may be the issue of budget. Maybe you are dreading the pain. It’s also common to worry about what your family might think.

There’s a saying: “Shenti fa fu shou zhi fumu” (身體髮膚受之父母), which translates to “Every hair and every bit of skin on our bodies come from our parents.” In Taiwan, one’s appearance is often considered a vessel of filial piety, tailored to the specifications of the opinions of our elders.

As a result, many people ‘don’t dare to’ get tattoos, rather than ‘don’t want to.’ And when they do get tattoos, they often hide them from their families. Of course, there are now plenty of families with at least two tattooed generations – and this does not count indigenous people such as the Atayal, who have tattooed themselves for hundreds of years.

Each generation goes through a similar dilemma when they begin to break the norms known to their parents – who, of course, did the same with their parents. And each generation manages to find its own way of bringing their outer selves closer to their true selves.    [FULL  STORY]