The Chin people of Burma were historically adored for their beauty, so much so that King’s would come
to villages to steal wives. As a measure against their women
being stolen, village elders started tattooing teenage girls to make
them ‘ugly’. The tradition stuck and over generations eventually lost
it’s original meaning of ugliness and came to represent courage, beauty
and strength. However, as these traditional groups began moving outside
their villages, the struggle between tradition and modernity has placed
tribal Chin culture under the increasing threat of being absorbed by the
dominant Burmese. Unique language, customs and dress have been
abandoned. Under this pressure to assimilate, the practice of facial
tattooing has also been discontinued. Currently there remain only a
handful of women adorning facial tattoos.
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