CHIN WOMEN
In the mountains of Chin State, Myanmar, there is a locality that is home to Chin women belonging to the Munn, Makan, and Dine tribes.
In ancient times, they were considered beautiful and highly desired by princes, who could appear to abduct them for absurd reasons, on a whim. The only alternative to protect Chin women was to tattoo their faces from a young age.
The tattooing process was done on the faces of girls between the ages of 11 and 15 and often took a day to complete. Over time, however, what was originally intended to disfigure them had the opposite effect. Facial tattoos became the distinctive marks of beauty for every older Chin woman.
Depending on the village of origin, the tattoo pattern varies: Munn women have small interconnected rings arranged in a crescent shape on their cheeks; Dine women have their faces covered with hundreds of small dots, while Makan women's tattoos resemble a spider's web.
This practice was abolished by the Burmese government in 1961 and is now nearing extinction.