A TV presenter with a traditional Māori face tattoo has calmly replied to negative comments from a viewer, proudly standing up for her cultural heritage and identity.
Facial tattoos often spark debates online. Some people think tattoos should only be on the body, while others understand and appreciate their cultural importance.
Oriini Kaipara, 41, made history when she became a newsreader for New Zealand’s Newshub. She is the first primetime TV news presenter to wear a moko kauae, a special facial tattoo for Māori women.
The Māori are the indigenous people of mainland New Zealand. They see moko kauae as important symbols of their heritage and identity. These tattoos, traditionally on the lips and chin, show a woman’s family ties, leadership, and honor her lineage, status, and abilities.
Oriini Kaipara. Credit: Oriini Kaipara / Instagram.
Despite receiving praise, one viewer named David expressed his dislike for Kaipara’s moko kauae in an email to Newshub.
He wrote, “We continue to object strongly to you using a Māori newsreader with a moku [moko] which is offensive and aggressive looking. A bad look. She also bursts into the Māori language which we do not understand. Stop it now,” according to the Daily Mail.
But Kaipara didn’t let David’s negative words stop her. She bravely shared screenshots of his messages on her Instagram story and responded calmly.
“Today I had enough. I responded. I never do that. I broke my own code and hit the send button,” she wrote on her Instagram story alongside a screenshot of David’s message.
Kaipara didn’t just share screenshots of David’s email, she also responded to him. She explained that his complaint wasn’t valid because she hadn’t broken any rules for TV.
She also corrected David’s spelling mistake. He called her tattoo a “moku” instead of “moko”.
In her email back to him, Kaipara said, “I think you don’t like how I look on TV. But tattoos and people with them aren’t scary or bad. We don’t deserve to be treated badly because of them.”
She asked him to stop complaining and to try to understand better. She even joked that maybe he should go back to the 1800s if he couldn’t accept people with tattoos.
Despite David’s negative words, Kaipara says she mostly gets nice comments, and mean ones are rare.
In an interview with the New Zealand Herald, Kaipara talked about how it’s important to have more Māori people in important jobs. She said, “The fact that my existence makes some people upset shows why we need more Māori people in every job.”
Kaipara’s calm response reminds us how important it is to be proud of who you are, even when people are mean. She’s inspiring others to be proud of themselves and stand up to unfair treatment.
What do you think of this story? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Things That Clog Your Pores And Cause Acne
Acne is a skin problem that affects about 90% of people during their life. There are many reasons why acne appears.
However, some things we might never have thought would cause acne actually do, and we might not even know it.
Viral Strange has collected 7 things that can cause pore-clogging and acne appearance.
Pores: We’ve all got these tiny openings in our skin for releasing sweat and oil, but for some people, they can be more temperamental than others. Or, rather, clogged pores happen more often to some of us than others. Clogged pores happen when oil doesn’t or can’t flow through them as it should, explains board-certified dermatologist Geeta Yadav, MD. “Typically, this is caused by the overproduction of oil that then becomes trapped by dead cells that haven’t properly shed from the lining of the pore. Makeup, dirt, and/or comedogenic ingredients can also block the pore, and prevent that flow of oil through it,” she says.
Comedogenic is essentially a word for pore-clogging, and while these types of ingredients aren’t the sole cause of acne and breakouts—there are several factors—they certainly won’t help the situation. “Pore-clogging ingredients make it much more likely that pimples will form,” says board-certified dermatologist Rachel Nazarian, MD. “In someone who has naturally oily skin or who harbors the bacteria that causes acne, using these ingredients is like adding gas to the fire. It’s a dangerous combination that can exacerbate acne and cause consistent breakouts.”
Coconut Oil
All three dermatologists we spoke with called out coconut oil as a common offender. “While it has a variety of health benefits, it’s highly comedogenic, especially when applied on the the face,” Palm explains. “Because it isn’t easily absorbed [into] the skin, it can trap bacteria and dead skin cells, making it detrimental for those who are acne-prone.”
Leave a Reply