so one of my coworkers has a teardrop tattoo and he reminds me of mike tyson in that i could see him stabbing and/or raping people.
i am aware that teardrop tattoos have many meanings, because a friend of the family had one which caused me to research it.
according to wiki:
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The teardrop tattoo or tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo that is placed underneath the eye. The tattoo can have several meanings, including signifying the number of years spent in prison, the number of times they were raped while incarcerated,[1] the loss of a loved one or fellow gang member,[1] or the fact that the wearer has killed someone.[2]
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Teardrop tattoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
now to me this sort of begs the question. why is the teardrop tattoo used to symbolize so many different things, and don't prisoners have a problem with the fact that the drop on their face could be a notch on their kill belt or it could also mean they were prison-raped? wouldn't prison gangsters want to distinguish rape victims from murderers?
which brings me to the next aspect of the teardrop tattoo: yea, it's a great investment in jail to look scary with a teardrop to commemorate your prison murder on your face but once you get out and try to get a job you might as well hang a sign on yourself that says don't hire me. nobody wants to hire a murderer. but.. what if the teardrop is from rape? then you might feel sort of bad for the guy and throw him a bone. which is why i think the teardrop tattoo is actually so ambiguously symbolic.
my theory is that prisoners rep it as a murder while they're in prison but then as soon as they get out they turn around and rep it as a prison-rape for sympathy. pretty smart, really.