Medusa Tattoos: Symbolism and Meaning

For a decade, Instagram was the primary social media platform for tattooing, allowing artists of all styles to showcase photos and videos of their work to a global audience and earn clientele like never before. Nowadays, many artists and tattoo enthusiasts have flocked to TikTok, where both artistry and personality can equally shine through. This has led to more than just the spread of tattoo techniques and aesthetics, but for the personal meanings and stories behind the designs to be showcased in a larger collective. One of the most prominent examples of this can be seen through Medusa tattoos.

Medusa has been a popular design choice throughout nearly every style of tattooing, but recently, the Gorgon of Greek mythology has taken on new meaning among a growing sector of collectors. For many who choose this tattoo, the design goes beyond admiration of the imagery alone, as Medusa can be a symbol of survival, protection, and strength for someone who has experienced sexual assault.

“In one of the versions of [this story], Medusa is transformed into a Gorgon after being sexually assaulted, where from then on those who looked at her were turned to stone,” says D, an Ohio-based tattoo artist who goes by The Evening Aurora on both TikTok and Instagram. “It can be interpreted in a lot of different ways, and victims of sexual assault often find themselves relating to Medusa’s story because of the experience, the stigma surrounding it, and the physical/mental changes that come from it.”

We can see similarities between the rise of Medusa tattoos with others of a similar nature, such as the semicolon, which represents support for anyone struggling with mental health conditions and/or contemplation of suicide. Semicolon tattoos are a metaphor for a person’s life story that, like a sentence, could have ended but instead continued. They have gained wider recognition through celebrities like Selena Gomez and Tommy Dorfman, who got them alongside others who worked on the show “13 Reasons Why,” which depicted suicide and other mental health experiences.

Although their meanings may be different, Medusa and semicolon tattoos carry a similar symbolism for the wearer. These tattoos allow them to immortalize their experience in a way that is stealth to most of the outside world, acting as a design that can be interpreted through many lenses and allow them to choose who they share the meaning with and when they do it. But for those who know the true meaning, Medusa and semicolon tattoos allow for an understanding that can go unspoken but still acknowledged.

“A lot of the interactions I’ve had regarding the video I made were users sympathizing with the client, wanting to get a Medusa tattoo themselves, mentioning that they’ve met people with them, and talking about their own Medusa tattoos,” says D.

It should go without saying that not every Medusa tattoo out there will carry this meaning. No one should make assumptions about anyone’s tattoos, regardless of how much discourse is happening on TikTok. Nevertheless, gaining an understanding about Medusa tattoos is informative not only for hopeful collectors, but also for artists who want to make the experience comfortable for their clients and create a design they’ll love long-term.

“I try to collaborate with my clients on finding some sort of imagery that conveys the meaning they want to put into their tattoo, to whatever degree they want,” says D. “To a stranger, the tattoos I create probably mean nothing, but even the simplest things have a lot of meaning.”