Body modifications: – Arouses attention

39-year-old Suara Alam from the Netherlands is causing a stir – and resentment – with her unusual appearance.

It all started ten years ago, when Suara got her first tattoo, a lion. This is written by the news agency Jam Press.

– Forgot the arm on the grill

When she had to cover up the lion tattoo a few years later, she made a drastic choice – and covered both arms with black tattoos.

Emma (33) gave birth in a coma

She herself says that she did it to relieve trauma from her childhood.

Since then, she has dyed large parts of her body completely black, including her neck, throat, chest and back.

She has also had piercings, had her earlobes enlarged, and tattooed her eyes purple.

Although she herself says that the body modifications give her increased self-confidence, not everyone likes the changes.

– People look at me strangely

– Someone once said to me: “That’s the worst tattoo I’ve ever seen, it looks like you forgot your arm on the grill,” says Suara, according to the news agency.

– «Blackfishing»

Suara says there are many who do not understand the choices she has made. The fact that she has covered her body with so much ink also provokes in other ways:

– Some people say that I engage in “blackfishing” and that “white people always try to steal from black culture”, she says.

Blackfishing has been defined as a phenomenon when white people do what they can to appear black.

To this the 39-year-old replies:

– I did not start this journey to “become black”. The skin turns grey, almost bluish when the tattoo has healed. It is not meant to offend anyone.

Suara believes that about 30 percent of the body is covered in ink. However, her absolute favorite is the purple eyeballs.

– It was love at first sight, because I love the color purple. They say the eyes are the windows of the soul. I think my soul radiates a lovely purple colour, she says.

– Do it for me

Now Suara hopes that sharing her story can help others try new things, even if it is not necessarily accepted by society.

She herself has used the tattoos in a process of healing the wounds after what she describes as a traumatic childhood.

– This journey is for me, alone. I want to be free to decide for myself, not have to ask people for permission. I can create the person I want to be, instead of being what people expect me to be.

Played Hitler speech over the loudspeaker

She admits that she has not always been comfortable with herself. She compares the tattooing process to a kind of metamorphosis, like a snake changing its skin.

– It feels like I can take control of my own body, my own life. That in itself is getting well, something I was unable to do earlier in my life. Body modifications and tattoos are much more than just changing your appearance. I do this for me, and not for the outside world.