More Than Just a Blue Mark

How many times have you heard from someone that they are getting a tattoo for one reason or another? A handful of times, I’m sure. Whatever the reason may be for getting tatted up, one thing is for certain: the tattoo has some sort of value and meaning to that person, whether it be good or bad. They are a form of art work that is used to express individuality and define character. However, there are some instances where tattoos are imposed upon without the will of choice. 

“Grandma Khanoum was not like everyone else. As a child I remember her as a wicked woman. She despised physical contact. This was a grandma who never hugged, gave no kisses. And she wore those gloves, which hid her hands and the tattoos. They hid her secret.”  This is the way Suzanne Khardlian described her grandmother. Khardlian, an independent filmmaker and writer, is the director of a new riveting film called “Grandma’s Tattoos” which is based on the thousands of forgotten women of the genocide who were kidnapped and pressured into prostitution were tatted so that they can be distinguished from the rest. 

“Grandma’s Tattoos” explores the secrets of the Khardlian family and eventually exposes the truth behind the tattoo. Suzanne explains that her grandmother was abducted and held captive in slavery for many years in Turkey. She was marked, or tattooed, as property beyond her will. “Grandma Khanoum’s fate was not an aberration. On the contrary, tens of thousands of Armenian children and teenagers were raped and abducted, kept in slavery”, she explains.

Around the of WWI, Allied forces reclaimed about 90,819 young Armenian girls and children who were forced to become prostitutes in order to ensure their survival. Most even gave birth after forced marriages or rape. These women and children were tatted to show that they belonged to their abductor. Soon after, European and American missionaries came to aid, and helped thousands of refugees “ who were later scattered to places like Beirut, Marseille, and Fresno. 

It is needless to say that “Grandma’s Tattoos” is a personal film based in Sweden that embodies the happenings of many Armenian women during the genocide. It’s a story of tatted women that haunt us until this day. A story made up of fragments that we try to piece together. 

The Khandlian story sounds all too familiar.As I child, I can recall looking at my grandmother’s hands and seeing a blue mark; more-so on her wrist than on her hands. I remember looking at it and my grandmother immediately covering it after she noticed it. I knew she was hiding something, but for all I knew my grandmother had a stamp on her wrist- much like the ones I would play with when I was younger.