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Special Interest Speech: Armenia Tattooing

Student's Name

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Special Interest Speech: Armenia Tattooing

I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: Have you ever seen the unique tattoo of the Armenia
people? The Armenia culture is endowered with great symbols that people
tattoo their body on without knowing the deep meaning of the tattoos. The
Armenian culture of tattooing has long been documented during the
Armenian genocide era.
B. Thesis Statement: The Armenian culture is endowed with many body
tattoos that are of significance to the Armenian people.
C. Preview: Today, I will share with you brief background information
concerning the use of tattoos by the Armenia people. I will give detailed
information about why the Armenia eternity sign is essential and how
Armenia youths are perceived in society for having this tattoo, including
how it has influenced my identity.
II. Body
A. Main Point 1: The history of Armenians about body tattooing.
1. In 1915-1957 during the Armenian genocide error, many female
victims were forcibly tattooed, specifically on the face (2021).
a. The use of tattoos was used as a means of body regulation to
make women have alien identities for better assimilation in
their communities.
b. For instance, I was considering Bilandjian, an Armenian
woman who was forced to live in a non-Armenian community.
Her face was tattooed to distinguish herself from other non-
Armenian people such as Turks and Arabs (Glum, 2021).
c. The tattoos among the Armenian women were used as a way of
regulating sex. Women used to tattoo themselves to keep or
lose their husbands' love (Glum, 2021).
d. In other cases, it was used to induce pregnancy.
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e. The adoption of tattoos by Armenia before Christianity was

considered to show an individual's belonging to a particular
clan (Amms Journalism, 2016).
f. Pagan Armenia also believed in magical powers and implanted
magic words and signs in their bodies.
g. After the adoption of Christianity, people started having tattoos
of fish which they believed was a symbol of Jesus Christ
(Amms Journalism, 2021).
h. Currently, various tattoos have been adopted in the Armenian
culture, although many people criticize tattoos as they believe
that they are signs of being non-Christian.
B. Main Point 2: Next, I will discuss the Armenia Eternity Sign as a body tattoo
and society's general perception of Armenia youths for having this tattoo.
1. The history of Armenia Eternity Symbol.
a. The Armenia eternity symbol is an ancient national
symbol and resembles many variations based on
Armenian reality.
b. The appearance resembles a rotating ornament, both
clockwise and anticlockwise (National Body For
Standards and Metrology (SAM), 2021).
c. The sign must have eight curves, this number,
Armenia believes, symbolizes revival, rebirth, and
recurrence (SAM, 2021).
2. Significance of the symbol
a. The symbol is used as an integral part of artistic expression.
b. Also, it is used to represent spiritual manifestation (SAM,
2021).
3. Society perception of tattooing
a. The Armenian perception of body tattooing is currently
changing. The majority of the people in society negatively
perceive body tattooing.
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b. Youths with tattoos are perceived to be convicts, people

whose moral values have deteriorated.
c. Nowadays, Armenian parents discourage their children
from being tattooed. Tattooed girls are perceived as
promiscuous (Amms Journalism, 2016).
C. Main Point 3: Culture of Tattooing and Impact
1. Personal skills
a) The culture of tattooing has taught me that tattoos have a
significant meaning in society. It will help me in acknowledging
the core aspects of society without any discrimination.
b) Tattoos represent a historical overview of some cultures, such as
spiritual growth.
c) The culture has also made me recognize how society may perceive
the aspect of tattooing. For instance, in Armenia, different
individuals have different perceptions about body tattoos. Youths
perceive it to be a lifestyle, while older people perceive it to be
associated with immoral behaviors.
d) It has also made me know that tattoos have different meanings, and
it is essential to understand the meanings of tattoos before having
one.
e) It is has made to understand that it is essential to have tattoos
whose meaning is relevant in society to avoid any discrimination.
2. Importance in my life.
a. The culture has exposed me to understanding how various symbols
are used for body tattooing.
b. To me, the culture reminds me that our current society is stilled
ingrained in historical artifacts, which are represented through
body tattooing.
III. Conclusion
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a) The unique tattoos of Armenia represent the richness of its culture as it

represents diverse meanings.
b) Today, I have talked about the Eternity symbol, which is used in the
Armenian culture. It highly represents spiritual symbolism. I hope you have
understood the meaning of this symbol.
c) I have given a history about the origin of tattoos in Armenia, that is, during
the Armenian Genocide era. I hope you have understood how the tattoos were
used to represent.
d) I have also talked about how tattoos are perceived in modern society.
e) The culture has helped me develop personal skills about society's perception
of the use of tattoos and the defferent meanings of tattoos from just being used
for body beautification.
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References

Amms Journalism. (2016). The Sin of Self-expression. Retrieved from,

https://medium.com/@amms/the-sin-of-self-expression-683502dd425
Glum, U. L. (2021). The Tattoos of Armenian Genocide Survivors. Journal for Religion, Film,
and Media (JRFM), 7(1), 123-143.
National Body for Standards and Metrology (SAM) (2021). Armenian Eternity Sign.
http://www.sarm.am/js/editor_innova/assets/Armenian_Eternity_Sign1.pdf