Embodying dependency: Caribbean godna (tattoos) as female subordination and resistance

Abstract

A tattoo has not one but multiple meanings, depending on the person and interpretations within a sociocultural context. To demonstrate, this article focuses on tattoo marks labeled godna in Suriname and Guyana and on their related tattooing practices. Godnas can be found among senior Hindu women, and can be interpreted as marks of subordination and resistance. They inscribe and actively (re)create asymmetrical power relations and embody different dimensions of dependency. Relating to the notion of service, they reinstate women's subalternized positionalities in socioreligious relationships and recreate experiences thereof, especially regarding husbands and in-laws, gurus, and deities. However, they may also become a means of subverting patriarchal hierarchy and challenging colonial and orthodox religious structures.