As for the topical question, this is a good answer. In Oursoulaert, do as the Oursulaertians do.
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Well, itâs also important to recognize that we donât have a monopoly on tattoos in general or certain motifs. Convergent evolution happens in sociology and ideas, too.
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Iâm glad somebody pointed this out. My own society preserves the use of identifying tattoos for family groups, although the motifs are very different from Minmatar tradition.
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This is an honorable and thoughtful way of responding. Problem is, the people youâre speaking to, by and large, arenât honorable or thoughtful. The problem isnât that they donât know why itâs problematic; weâve covered this with them multiple times. The problem is that they donât care, and that isnât something you can teach through words. Iâd suggest saving your breath, should the need arise.
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Well, when weâre talking about Gallente teens and twenty-somethings⌠really, we havenât. Itâs an ongoing conversation that canât be assumed to have been covered among the younger generations. As they come of age, they rebel. As they rebel, they look for things their culture doesnât do, and outside influences. Itâs inevitable that some of them will adopt the trappings of other groups, not because they donât care, but because they havenât been exposed to someone outside the culture theyâre rebelling against who objects to it.
Or, you know, whoâs willing to point a 1400mm artillery cannon at their hometown and say âknock it off, or I will.â
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Which is why you teach one of them a very severe lesson, and an example has been made. This will in the end have a far more sizable impact than having to have a heart to heart with every damn one of those frogfuckers.
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You are a very forgiving person. Bless your heart.
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I know, right?
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Thatâs 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, youâre 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 theyâre too tired, too stubborn for either, and become Mannar. We donât only do this with what others call âraceâ; 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. Weâve developed technology, medicine, an entire government that offers options, when one is trapped.
In general, within the Federation, people donât 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. Iâm from a small planet in the middle of nowhere. If I told you my identity, which is based on my planet, you wouldnât recognise it. But you will understand âethnic Gallente.â
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 youâre from. Itâs an approximation a little like that. When someone says they are âethnic Gallente,â theyâre not wrong, but theyâre not being as precise as they could be.
Understanding that, thereâs some broad generalities you can say about each sociocultural category. Iâm thinking youâre talking about the ethnic Gallente, since the ethnic Gallente are well known for their xenophilia. Thereâs 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, weâre 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 wasnât always part of the ethnic Gallente identity, but itâs hard to separate now. Itâs 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. Itâs 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 Gallenteâs 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 theyâre not, in everything they donât understand - reason two.
What does one do, when they fall in love? Does one ignore what they love? Do they avoid it? Iâve 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, whatâs 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. )
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Iâm really not. Also, I hate people. Like, pretty much all of 'em. Which makes what I do kind of⌠odd⌠when I think about it too much.
But see, having the heart to heart once lets me point that 1400mm cannon with a clear conscience.
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Ah yes Miss Valate, articles for ages ago. I remember them, i had hoped the practise would have fallen out of fashion.
I can be patitent with those sporting matari tattoos that identify them as brubestior or the pictagram swamp, but when the take on the clan tattoos or vouval. I must admit to feeling ire, while i donât beat someone over it. I can understand why some willâŚ
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That was a wonderful read, thank you for writing a whole piece on the Gallente side of the argument! I never realized these people had such an aversion to their own culture.
Well. Of all the cultures in New Eden to try and identify with, I daresay the Federation youth made the right choice.
I still hope theyâl stop with the bloody tattoos.
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While I consider tatoos a primitive and disgusting, if not a criminal fashion, I cannot say anything against Minmatars using them for their purposes and Gallente uses them for theirs.
From what I have learned, Gallente are highly disrespective folk, misusing traditions of other cultures for their own entertainment.
While they do it inside their filthy Federation, well, itâs their home. If you try to stop them, youâll commit a crime with both moral and legal points of view, so no, doing that inside the Federation, they arenât risking anything.
But if they go with these tattoos into Republic - yes, I will watch with great delight how they will be beaten and put back into their place. Maybe even forced to cut off their filthy tattoos with their filthy gallentean skin. That will teach them a lesson.
So, as a conclusion:
- Ignore completely what they do inside Federation. If they want to degrade themeselve - itâs their choice. Do not be like them and donât force your way on others.
- Do not be tolerant in even a tiny way if they show up in the Republic, disrespecting your traditions, treat them as harsh as possible to educate them.
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Yikes!! Miss Kim, you are burning far too hot. So you donât even like the tattoos the Caldari have?, or is those considerd more âcivilizedâ tattoos?..
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Thatâs a question of personal preferences, Ms. Ash, and I canât dictate people to wear or not tattoos. I am against any sort of body modification. The only thing that changes is the Caldari tattoo owners simply go down in my eyes.
Then why do you have some? You werenât born with those implants.
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Because other options were even worse.
Ah I see, very well Miss Kim. I canât fault you for having that opinion 
, I guess itâs very different from a caldari viewpoint.
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Eeeh, not so. Many Caldari corps and Mega-corps use scannable tattoos in strategic places as a form of permanent ID. Some individuals with the cash, or official backing, choose to use augmentations, this is especially common in more martial careers.
Heck, you could under a stretched definition label engineered tube babies as the ultimate body modification as theyâve been editted and screened to a desired standard at the genetic level. Commander Kimâs opinion is but one of many Iâve found from my time growing up in the State.
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It seems I have to educate myself a bit :), but I see the major difference is a Matari tattoo is more bound to the person. Where as a Caldari is more utilitary, you really have no choice in the matterâŚ
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