That’s a complicated question, but I hope I can help make it clear for you.
The ethnic Gallente, as you may not know, are not a race. I know, for the Minmatar, you’re born in a family, a clan, a tribe, and that is what defines you. It is not so in the Federation.
A person may have been born to a family of Jin-Mei inside of the Federation. Their heritage does not make them Jin-Mei. Their family and member-state may speak of the Jin-Mei, but their soul - if you believe in such things - could sing a different song. They may read of the Intaki, of the Ida, and realise they are actually Intaki. They may read of the Morthane Empire and decide they are ethnic Gallente. As they get older, they might realise they’re too tired, too stubborn for either, and become Mannar. We don’t only do this with what others call “race”; sometimes a boy may be born into a vessel, a body, that is too feminine. Other times, a sprinter is born into a vessel with weak legs. We’ve developed technology, medicine, an entire government that offers options, when one is trapped.
In general, within the Federation, people don’t tend to use such big sociocultural categories to define themselves to each other. They use it as a shorthand for people of other empires to understand. I’m from a small planet in the middle of nowhere. If I told you my identity, which is based on my planet, you wouldn’t recognise it. But you will understand “ethnic Gallente.”
When you talk to someone who lives in the same city as you, you tell them what neighbourhood you live in. When you talk to someone who lives in the same country as you, you tell them what city you live in. When you talk to someone from a different country, you tell them what country you’re from. It’s an approximation a little like that. When someone says they are “ethnic Gallente,” they’re not wrong, but they’re not being as precise as they could be.
Understanding that, there’s some broad generalities you can say about each sociocultural category. I’m thinking you’re talking about the ethnic Gallente, since the ethnic Gallente are well known for their xenophilia. There’s two overarching reasons why an ethnic Gallente might want to explore Minmatar tattoos, even if it gets them beat to a pulp: one, the ethnic Gallente hate themselves. Two, the ethnic Gallente love everyone else.
One. The ethnic Gallente hate themselves. State Caldari will tell you, we’re the worst. Ethnic Gallente who feel strong ties to our home system, Luminaire, frequently hold themselves accountable for the fascist regime which led to the Caldari secession and the Gallente-Caldari War. Some will personally feel guilty for the Raspa Wars or other upliftment mistakes which caused lasting damage. Others believe that the interstellar government that we helped create was a mistake, and that we should never be trusted with power again. The guilt, shame, and self-hate wasn’t always part of the ethnic Gallente identity, but it’s hard to separate now. It’s not attractive, either - people have been identifying as the ethnic Gallente less and less over time, and more and more like other identities, such as the Jin-Mei, the Intaki, and the Mannar. It’s driven the ethnic Gallente as far as Solitude, even farther, into the ends of nullsec. Trying to run away from the shame.
Pride in an ethnic Gallente’s own culture and heritage is often seen as dangerous, because that kind of pride was what led to the fascist regime to begin with. In place of that, many ethnic Gallente prefer to foster a love for everything they’re not, in everything they don’t understand - reason two.
What does one do, when they fall in love? Does one ignore what they love? Do they avoid it? I’ve always thought that love was a desire to walk the path towards understanding.
Are they content to read about it on Galnet? Watch it on holoflicks? Is that really enough, to understand something? Do you think someone can genuinely understand something via a screen, maybe some audio, a little bit of text? I doubt I need to tell anyone here. The cultures of the Tribes are gorgeous. But pray tell, what’s the best way to be in love, when one is young and unwise?
A hypothetical boy may eat the food; listen to the music; dress in the same clothes. They hope that someone else may teach them the best ways, the most respectful ways, to learn. They may never meet such a person. The Federation is the second largest empire in the cluster, and Federation Minmatar are not in every system. So they will be clumsy. They will make mistakes, and they pay for them with laughter or pain.
I hope I was able to clear things up!
( http://wiki.eve-inspiracy.com/index.php?title=Demographics_of_the_Gallente_Federation
http://wiki.eve-inspiracy.com/index.php?title=History_of_the_ethnic_Gallente#Second_Renaissance
Further reading available on request. )