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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My Ех Ruinеd My Dаy аt Wоrk, I Вrilliаntly Тооk Rеvеngе оn Нim thе Sаmе Dаy — Stоry оf thе Dаy
So, my boyfriend kicked me out after I caught him with another woman right on our kitchen table. The very next day, he showed up at my job with her! (I’m a waitress)
Me: “Colin, haven’t you hurt me enough already? Why are you here?”
Him: “Well, you can’t serve me at home anymore, so you’ll serve me here.”
His girl: “Hurry up and get me a menu, or you’re gonna lose more than just your house — you’ll lose this job too!”
I couldn’t afford to lose my job, so I had to serve them… it was a TOTAL DISASTER! They were purposely making a mess… He dropped his fork so I would kneel in front of him. At one point, his new girl even “accidentally” spilled her soup on me! They were laughing their heads off while I was crying under the bar counter.
But then, our chef saw me, wiped my tears, and told me he had this brilliant plan to get back at them. It was pretty simple but so genius! I immediately began to put it into action.
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