Algeria's Tattoos of Beauty

Khadra Kabssi, 74, a berber woman from the Chaouia region, who has facial tattoos, sits in her home in Chalma at the Aures Mountain near the eastern city of Batna, Algeria October 9, 2015. Among the Chaouia people of the Aures mountains, a woman's beauty used to be judged by her tattoos. Kabssi was tattooed aged 21 by her cousin following Algeria's independence from France. "I did it because I wanted to be beautiful for the independence of my country and all the girls my age were tattooed," Kabssi said. "At that time we were very young, our thought was far from committing any sin. I just wanted to feel pretty". Today she doesn't regret being tattooed, despite being told by religious people and friends around her that she has committed a sin and so will endure punishment after her death. "I don't believe what they are saying at all," she said. "If the snake, as they said, wants to eat me then he is free to do it. I will be dead, I'll feel nothing". (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)
Algeria's Tattoos of Beauty
   
  Military Woman Gallery

Must See Places

Google Ads Privacy