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.
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Gordon Ramsay shares important message after potentially fatal accident
Gordon Ramsay is grateful to be alive and attributes his survival to the helmet, which he claims saved his life, in addition to the physicians, nurses, and other staff at the hospital in Connecticut.
During the Father’s Day weekend, the well-known chef used social media to tell his followers a terrifying tale. Even a week following the incident, Ramsay was still uneasy.
“I had a pretty bad bike accident in Connecticut this week,” he added. “I’m okay, I didn’t break any bones or have any serious injuries, but I do look like a purple potato with all the bruises.”
An enthusiastic cyclist, Ramsay clarified that wearing a helmet is vital no matter how “short the journey is” or that helmets are expensive because they are “crucial.”
“I’m fortunate to be in this position. I’m hurting. “I’m slowly making my way through this tough week,” Ramsay remarked, lifting his shirt to display a large bruise.
The Hell’s Kitchen star also uploaded pictures of his accident both before and after.
Gordon Ramsay’s recovery makes me very happy. The fact that you can see his bruise and the damage his helmet caused serves as a great reminder of how important it is to always wear a helmet!
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