Tear tattoo
As a teardrop tattoo (colloquially jail tear ) refers to a tattoo in the form of a tear , mostly stung under the eye. It is related, among other things, to criminal activities . However, its exact meaning is disputed.
meaning
There are various possible meanings. Some of these are:
Sign of grief
A tear tattoo can be interpreted as a sign of mourning over the death of someone close to the wearer. In most cases, the deceased did not die of natural causes, but was killed, for example murdered or the victim of an accident. American basketball player Amar'e Stoudemire had a tear tattoo after his brother was killed in a car accident.
Sign of murder
A tear tattoo can also be a sign of a murder committed by the tattooed person and the number of tears can correspond to the number of murders committed. This thesis is described in the book Ghetto Kidz by the writer Morton Rhue . Furthermore, the musician Lil Wayne made a hint in an interview about the meaning of his four tear tattoos. So he said while pointing at his tear tattoos:
“My mamas a gangsta… She told me every day, Nigga play with you, you kill him. I believed her, and I do everything she say. You see these four? Lord, forgive me. But guess what, you play with me, I'll knock your head open and piss on your motherfucking eyes. "
"My mom was a gangster ... she told me every day, (the) nigga play with you, you kill him. I believed her and do everything she says. Do you see the four (tattoos) here? God forgive me But, you know what? If you play with me, I'll break your head in and piss on your fucking eyes. "
At a hearing in a Washington, DC court , a defendant's tear tattoo caused a stir as it may have influenced the jury's decision.
Prison sign
A tear tattoo can indicate a prison term. The number of tears can represent the years that the person wearing the tattoo was in prison. The late singer Amy Winehouse got a tear tattoo in solidarity with her boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil after he was sentenced to prison.
Mark of degradation
Another meaning of the tattoo comes from US prisons. Prisoners reported that they from their Sugar Daddies- were forced to get stung a teardrop tattoo to show that they are effeminate men who can the ideal image of a man not meet ( Engl. Sissy ).
Causa "teardrop rapist"
Between 1996 and 2012, an unknown sex offender who was known as the “teardrop rapist” because of his teardrop tattoos committed several rapes in the United States. Witnesses to an assault in 1998 mistook the perpetrator for a man who also wore a tear tattoo and was sentenced in 1999 to at least 55 years in prison. 16 years later he was found innocent on the basis of a DNA examination and acquitted, but initially remained in custody because of an unclear residence status.
Prominent porters
Prominent wearers of tear tattoos include the American rapper Lil Wayne , The Game , Ricardo Quaresma , Kevin Gates and the British singer Amy Winehouse .
literature
- Hans-Dieter Schwind, Günter Blau: Prison execution in practice: an introduction to the problems and realities of the prison system and the relief of the released. Walter de Gruyter, 1988, ISBN 3-11-010906-9 .
- International Society of Art and Psychopathology, Nikolaus Petrilowitsch, Juan José López Ibor, Theodor Spoerri, Gunter Hofer, Rainer Michaelis, Karl Peter Kisker, Ulrich Spiegelberg: The language of the other . Volume 152. S. Karger, 1976.
- Marcel Feige : A tattoo is forever. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2003, ISBN 3-89602-381-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Dieter Schwind, Günter Blau: Prison execution in practice: an introduction to the problems and realities of the prison system and the relief of the released. P. 304.
- ↑ Marcel Feige: A tattoo is forever. P. 118.
- ↑ Explanation of the tattoo
- ↑ Amar'e Stoudmire teardrop tattoo. (English) accessed on December 10, 2013
- ↑ Lil Wayne Interview. (English) accessed on December 10, 2013
- ↑ Trial in Washington. (English) accessed on December 10, 2013
- ↑ Amy Winehouse and her teardrop tattoo. (English) accessed on December 10, 2013
- ↑ different meanings of the tattoo. (English) accessed on December 10, 2013
- ↑ New DNA traces: Californians sat behind bars for 16 years, innocent . Spiegel Online , November 24, 2015