Article  Tattoos to confront the terror of death (body art fashions)

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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1063135

INTRO: The October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel resulted in widespread trauma, impacting not only the direct victims but also the broader population. Many experienced posttraumatic symptoms. This collective trauma blurred the lines between witnesses and victims, leading to a shared experience of pain and grief across Israeli society.

In the wake of these attacks, a notable phenomenon emerged: memorial tattoos. Defined as body art that commemorates deceased loved ones and expresses a more general experience of loss and grief, on one hand, and hope and empowerment, on the other, memorial tattoos serve as tangible symbols of loss and emotional connections. They reflect personal narratives while also representing collective trauma experienced by the entire nation.

A new study by Dr. Ayelet Oreg, Dr. Hilit Erel-Brodsky and Prof. Orit Taubman – Ben-Ari from Bar-Ilan University’s Weisfeld School of Social Work uses Terror Management Theory (TMT, Solomon et al., 1991) to explore the rise of memorial tattoos in Israel following the attacks. TMT posits that human awareness of death creates existential anxiety, which people manage through cultural worldviews, self-esteem, and social connections.

The researchers analyzed data from public Facebook groups and Instagram accounts of tattoo artists, collecting 250 images of memorial tattoos. They used a combination of digital ethnography and visual data analysis to explore war-related tattoos as testimonials of experiences from the October 7 massacre and the subsequent war, focusing on how the tattoos serve as expressions of collective grief and cultural identity, and may assist individuals to contend with the trauma and the existential terror of death.

The analysis of the 250 memorial tattoo photos yielded three main themes... (MORE - details, no ads)
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