Body Modification/Body Art & Body Image
In the Samoan culture, there is a meaning behind the painful process of getting the body art. The simple definition of getting a tatau in the Samoan culture for the men, is to have a clear distinction from a "real" man from other men. The pe'a has a lot of emphasis in the Samoan culture because of the elaborate process that the men undertake and the results are beautiful. This tatau is very important for the men and they certainly take a lot of pride in the artists' work.
As for the women, they are seen as sacred in the Samoan culture and men are supposed to protect them. The Samoan tatau is very much part of the culture. Again my argument is that the practice of Samoan tatau is gendered.
The legend goes that the two deities, Taema and Tilafaiga, were the ones that brought tattooing from Fiji to Samoa. On their journey, they sang about the art of tattoo and that tattoos are beautiful on their women (from Fiji). As Taema and Tilafaiga was almost to Samoa, they spotted a oyster (or a clam in some stories) and they went down to get it. When they reached to the surface, this is when their song changing stating that the tattooing of men would beautify them rather the women. (Lars Krutak 2010 and Richard A. Goodman 2008). There are various version of the origin legend of how tattoo came to Samoa. Here is a button link to the Samoan song lyrics in the Samoan language:
As for the women, they are seen as sacred in the Samoan culture and men are supposed to protect them. The Samoan tatau is very much part of the culture. Again my argument is that the practice of Samoan tatau is gendered.
The legend goes that the two deities, Taema and Tilafaiga, were the ones that brought tattooing from Fiji to Samoa. On their journey, they sang about the art of tattoo and that tattoos are beautiful on their women (from Fiji). As Taema and Tilafaiga was almost to Samoa, they spotted a oyster (or a clam in some stories) and they went down to get it. When they reached to the surface, this is when their song changing stating that the tattooing of men would beautify them rather the women. (Lars Krutak 2010 and Richard A. Goodman 2008). There are various version of the origin legend of how tattoo came to Samoa. Here is a button link to the Samoan song lyrics in the Samoan language:
Date Accessed: March 15, 2013
Other resources that I have found have relatively talked about the meaning of the males and females tatau. Not much theory of why the men get the pe'a and the women get the malu. But as for transgender individuals with a sex change, like for an example, if a male to female wants to get a malu, he will not have the permission from the fa'amatai (chief/tattoo artist) to get one because he is biologically born a man and vice versa with women if they are female to male and wants get a pe'a. There is not if's, and's , nor but's. The symbolism for a male getting a pe'a is that he is a new person as a whole because of the process that he had gone through. For women, again are sacred creatures because of their gift to bring life into the world and their responsibilities for their villages.
With incorporating the Cybercultural Reader and LGBT resource in this section, I have not yet gotten to this part because it is mostly devoted to those individuals that do not label themselves the typical heterosexual gender individual and also, the fact that this type of issue is not based in the cyber world and not affected by it. Also, there is more of a historical background context with this particular topic because of the desire to still keep the tradition alive.
How this project is different from other existing projects is that the interviews that are going to be taken place is in the future and that it is coming from the only primary resource that is existing to day and the only living tattoo traditional artist, Su'a Suluape Petelo and also a couple more interviews from Pi'i and Professor Eddie Danielson at University of Hawaii at Manoa.
With incorporating the Cybercultural Reader and LGBT resource in this section, I have not yet gotten to this part because it is mostly devoted to those individuals that do not label themselves the typical heterosexual gender individual and also, the fact that this type of issue is not based in the cyber world and not affected by it. Also, there is more of a historical background context with this particular topic because of the desire to still keep the tradition alive.
How this project is different from other existing projects is that the interviews that are going to be taken place is in the future and that it is coming from the only primary resource that is existing to day and the only living tattoo traditional artist, Su'a Suluape Petelo and also a couple more interviews from Pi'i and Professor Eddie Danielson at University of Hawaii at Manoa.