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Teardrop tattoo

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Rapper Lil Wayne with teardrop tattoos below his eyes

The teardrop tattoo or tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo of a tear that is placed underneath the eye. The teardrop is one of the most widely recognised prison tattoos and has various meanings.

It can signify that the wearer has spent time in prison, or more specifically that the wearer was raped while incarcerated and tattooed by the rapist as a "property" mark and for humiliation, since facial tattoos cannot be concealed.

The tattoo is sometimes worn by the female companions of prisoners in solidarity with their loved ones. Amy Winehouse had a teardrop drawn on her face in eyeliner after her husband Blake entered the Pentonville prison hospital following a suspected drug overdose.

It can acknowledge the loss of a friend or family member: North American rappers The Game and Lil Wayne have teardrop tattoos signifying the death of friends and basketball player Amar'e Stoudemire has had a teardrop tattoo since 2012 honoring his older brother Hazell Jr., who died in a car accident.

In West Coast gang culture (USA), the tattoo may signify that the wearer has killed someone and in some of those circles, the tattoo's meaning can change: an empty outline meaning either the wearer attempted murder or that a fellow gang member or friend died and when filled in, the wearer sought revenge.

Elsewhere, it can mean that the wearer has raped someone, or molested children.

Sometimes the exact meaning of the tattoo is known only by the wearer: Portuguese footballer Ricardo Quaresma has never explained his teardrop tattoos nor whether they have been covered up, removed via laser surgery or simply were not permanent.

See also

References

  1. "15 prison tattoos and their meanings: Corrections One".
  2. Macdonald, John Marshall (1987). The confession: interrogation and criminal profiles for police officers. Apache Press. p. 83. ISBN 9780961823009. A teardrop tattoo below the corner of the eye represents five years in prison
  3. "Prison Tattoos Tell a Story | Prison Legal News".
  4. "Why getting a tattoo in prison is a really bad idea | Metro News".
  5. "Four Days in the Oaxaca State Prison: Mexico Living". mexconnect.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016. the victim of rape is tattooed with a tear drop below the eye by the offending party and his accomplices
  6. "What does teardrop tattoo mean?". dictionary.com. a dominant inmate forces the tattoo on a submissive one after being extorted, abused or raped — a form of public humiliation
  7. "Teardrop Tattoo Meaning: Tattoos With Meaning". tattooswithmeaning.com. this was a way of "marking" an inmate as the property of another person or humiliating the inmate while in jail, as a tattoo on the face cannot be covered up or hidden
  8. Santos, Xuan (Fall 2009). "The Chicana Canvas: Doing Class, Gender, Race, and Sexuality through Tattooing in East Los Angeles". Feminist Formations. 21 (3): 91–120.
  9. Lee, Chris (July 13, 2017). "Amy Winehouse's Marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil: Dark Love Affair". Winehouse appeared in public with a tiny teardrop drawn in eyeliner beneath her left eye.
  10. Binelli, Mark (April 16, 2009). "Life on Planet Wayne". Rolling Stone. pp. 43–47, 73–74.
  11. Lorenzo, Tom (2012-02-14). "Amar'e Stoudemire Honors His Late Brother By Getting A "Teardrop" Tattoo". Sports Grid. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  12. ^ Smith, Brendan (April 25, 2008). "Tattoo Regret". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2010-09-20. the tattoo's 'West Coast' meaning Cite error: The named reference "regret" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Poljac, Bakir; Burke, Tod (August 2008). "Erasing the Past: Tattoo-Removal Programs for Former Gang Members". FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Vol. 77, no. 8. pp. 13–18.
  14. "What 15 common prison tattoos mean - Business Insider".
  15. ^ "Teardrop Tattoo Meaning | herinterest.com/". Cite error: The named reference "urlTeardrop Tattoo Meaning (see the help page).
  16. "How the LAPD Turned an Innocent Man Into the 'Teardrop Rapist'". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  17. WOLF, SONJA; Logan, Samuel (August 2010). "This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang". Journal of Latin American Studies. 42 (3): 627–629. doi:10.1017/s0022216x10000994.
  18. Butler, Andrew (15 June 2018). "No-one knows why Ricardo Quaresma has two teardrop tattoos on his face".
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