malu

Malu is a traditional Samoan tattoo applied to women. The malu covers the legs from just below the knee to the upper thighs just below the buttocks, and is typically finer and more delicate in design compared to the peʻa, the tattoo worn by men. The malu takes its name from a particular lozenge-shaped motif of the same name, usually tattooed behind the knee, in the popliteal fossa. It is one of the key motifs not seen on men. According to Samoan scholar Albert Wendt and tattooist Sua Sulu'ape Paulo II, in tattooing, the term malu refers to notions of sheltering and protection. Samoan women were also tattooed on the hands and sometimes the lower abdomen. These practices have undergone a resurgence since the late 1990s.

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