Teardrop tattoo

Rapper Lil Wayne with teardrop tattoos below his eyes

The teardrop tattoo or tear tattoo is a symbolic tattoo of a tear that is placed underneath the eye. The teardrop is one of the most widely recognised prison tattoos^[1] and has various meanings.

It can signify that the wearer has spent time in prison,^[2][3] or more specifically that the wearer was raped while incarcerated and tattooed by the rapist as a "property" mark and for humiliation, since facial tattoos cannot be concealed.^[4][5][6][7]

The tattoo is sometimes worn by the female companions of prisoners in solidarity with their loved ones.^[8] Amy Winehouse had a teardrop drawn on her face in eyeliner after her husband Blake entered the Pentonville prison hospital following a suspected drug overdose.^[9]

It can acknowledge the loss of a friend or family member: Basketball player Amar'e Stoudemire has had a teardrop tattoo since 2012 honouring his older brother Hazell Jr., who died in a car accident.^[10]

In West Coast United States gang culture, the tattoo may signify that the wearer has killed someone^[11][12] and in some of those circles, the tattoo's meaning can change: an empty outline meaning the wearer attempted murder.

Sometimes the exact meaning of the tattoo is known only by the wearer^[12][13] as in the case of Portuguese footballer Ricardo Quaresma, who has never explained his teardrop tattoos.^[14]

See also

• Criminal tattoo
• Prison rape
• Prison tattooing

References

1. "15 prison tattoos and their meanings: Corrections One".
2. Macdonald, John Marshall (1987). The confession: interrogation and criminal profiles for police officers. Apache Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-9618230-0-9. A teardrop tattoo below the corner of the eye represents five years in prison
3. "Prison Tattoos Tell a Story | Prison Legal News".
4. "Why getting a tattoo in prison is a really bad idea | Metro News". 6 May 2017.
5. "Four Days in the Oaxaca State Prison: Mexico Living". mexconnect.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016. the victim of rape is tattooed with a tear drop below the eye by the offending party and his accomplices
6. "What does teardrop tattoo mean?". dictionary.com. a dominant inmate forces the tattoo on a submissive one after being extorted, abused or raped — a form of public humiliation
7. "Teardrop Tattoo Meaning: Tattoos With Meaning". tattooswithmeaning.com. this was a way of "marking" an inmate as the property of another person or humiliating the inmate while in jail, as a tattoo on the face cannot be covered up or hidden
8. Santos, Xuan (Fall 2009). "The Chicana Canvas: Doing Class, Gender, Race, and Sexuality through Tattooing in East Los Angeles". Feminist Formations. 21 (3): 91–120.
9. Lee, Chris (13 July 2017). "Amy Winehouse's Marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil: Dark Love Affair". The Daily Beast. Winehouse appeared in public with a tiny teardrop drawn in eyeliner beneath her left eye.
10. Lorenzo, Tom (14 February 2012). "Amar'e Stoudemire Honors His Late Brother By Getting A "Teardrop" Tattoo". Sports Grid. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
11. Smith, Brendan (25 April 2008). "Tattoo Regret". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 20 September 2010. the tattoo's 'West Coast' meaning
12. Poljac, Bakir; Burke, Tod (August 2008). "Erasing the Past: Tattoo-Removal Programs for Former Gang Members". FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Vol. 77, no. 8. pp. 13–18.
13. WOLF, SONJA; Logan, Samuel (August 2010). "This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang". Journal of Latin American Studies. 42 (3): 627–629. doi:10.1017/s0022216x10000994. S2CID 145081109.
14. Gidden, Alex (28 November 2016). "Besiktas Star Ricardo Quaresma Refutes Rumours About His Teardrop Tattoos".