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In an increasingly global world, designs, motifs, even techniques of tattooing move across cultural boundaries, and in the process their original meanings are often lost or changed. Polynesian tattoo designs worn by Westerners are admired for the beauty of their graphic qualities, but their original cultural meanings are rarely understood. A tattoo in Tahiti was once worn to signify status and beliefs, but in London it becomes a sign of rebellion from conformist culture. Traditional body modifications are given new meanings as they move across cultural and social boundaries. In the past, tattoos in Tahiti showed the importance of an individual’s social status. In contemporary global society, while drawing on traditions from around the world, a tattoo is more likely to indicate a person’s individuality.

Extreme body modifications: Tongue-splitting, implants, earreshaping, beading, corneal tattooing and body-branding are new forms of body modification in the West. (LeichenParty / Wikimedia Commons)