White foreigner with tattoos!

Princessinthemaking

Ok, first of all, this forum is GREAT!

I'm currently traveling the world and will be going to India in September for 3 months, possibly returning a year later.

I love what I have read / seen so far....but I have one major worry which is really putting me off, I'm a 22 year old white female, I'm gay so will be traveling with my girlfriend. I have many (when I say many, I mean LOTS AND LOTS) of tattoos, down my arms, all over my legs, stomach etc. Also, I have a lot of piercings, very visible, like 3 in my lips, nose, tongue, ears etc


I also have bright blue hair....in a short / half shaven style.

Now....am I going to be seriously harrassed here? I'll be going to Goa, possibly north.

I appreciate your replies!!

gaurav1441

Not in GOA. It is better than most parts of India. You can avoid interiors to get into limelight.

rajdeep1510

Hi,

Welcome to India....

India is not as liberal as UK but I think you shouldnt be worried about thinking that you are a gay n some thing will go wrong in India. Travel freely in India it wont be a problem. Goa is a very beautiful place to travel. The best in beaches. n about your tattos..try some new things in Goa Candolim-Baga-Vagator are best to stay in Goa.

chrise5150

your gonna b the diamond in the haystack

PeakXV

You really don't need all that bling & ink to get extra attention in India. Shiva got a blue throat because he drank really, really bad poison - so there may be some behind-the-back tongue wagging & conclusions drawn from that perspective.

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

chrise5150

but then again ya goa is way better than other places, enjoy the attention get use to it

wind_chariot

well frankly speaking, your hairstyle and lots of piercings will make u very different. people will not care for tattoos.

namaste_cat

Depends on how you define harassment. People will definitely be curious about your tattoos, might even want to touch them or ask you what they mean. Usually it's genuine curiosity, no malice.

Don't in any way encourage any young males not even a smile because that can sometimes be all they need to think it's ok to touch your tattoos as well. People don't respect personal space so boundaries are an issue even when it comes to non-harassers.

Since you will be w/ another person, that will help in terms of physical stuff like being groped or felt up. You & your girlfriend can watch out for each other e.g. one time my daughter's breast was grabbed (how disgusting eh we're talking about a 15 yr old child! [grrrr]) and the person didn't know I was her mom, slimeball thought she was alone and could get away w/ it.

I immediately slapped the guy and was getting ready to knee him in the you-know-what when another nice man jumped in and beat the guy up. Don't hesitate to make a scene unless for some reason the whole crowd is hostile (thankfully not ever encountered that).

Really though, your biggest issue will be staring which we all deal w/ but w/ the hair and tattoos, count on it. My daughter had a hair dye mishap last yr so had bright pink hair while we were traveling in India. She only thought people stared at her prior to that. I swear she has never had more people gaping at her and even trying to touch her hair than when she had pink hair.

At the end of the day though, just shrug it off, and know to expect it so it doesn't bug ya. Goa is cool, people are used to foreigners there. Where in the North were you planning to go? If you mean places like Ladakh, no one there's gonna care either but let's say you mean Amritsar, that could blow some people's minds for sure.

If you plan to go into a temple whether Hindu, Sikh, or Jain be sure you're covered up. Dress code is much like going into a rather conservative church in the U.S. or so I'm told (not being a churchgoer myself).

nikhilsegel

Hey Princessinthemaking,

Welcome to IndiaMike.

I think you will find a lot of data if you use the search bar on the general issues non Indian ladies have to cope with while in India. I don't think you should face too much more. Yes you might get a few extra stares but then I am sure that you might have got the same in any other part of the world where you looked different from the rest of the people.

As to your sexual orientation, I don't think its any different for a hetro couple. As long as you don't show too much physical intimacy in public it doesn't really matter.

If you are in India for 3 months you might be interested in planning an itinerary, which would perhaps make more specific comments / recommendations possible.

Cheers and have a great trip

Rajdeep,

Sorry to say this, but the Candolim - Baga stretch is really a concrete jungle now.

Would recommend either further North, Anjuna, Arambol
or Deep South.
Depending on the OP's mindset and aspiration from Goa.

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Princessinthemaking

Thanks guys, you all put me at ease!

I'm used to people staring in the UK, and even coming up asking to see / what they mean. And some negative reactions to, and that's in England! So I'm fine with the extra attention, and nobody could tell we are a couple unless we decided to tell them, so that wasn't too much of an issue for me.


Thankyou again!

rajdeep1510

So Happy Travelling in India....

For anymore info you can write to me at rajdeep1510@gmail.com

Brisso

In north Goa (maybe not Calangute and Candolim) you will fit right in. Indians seem to expect foreigners to be different. Heaps of tattooed and pierced tourists in Goa.