Mermaids. Often described as beautiful, majestic, half woman – half fish hybrids, roaming the deep waters of the ocean and visiting land for a glimpse of mankind. The myths surrounding hybrid sea monsters have existed for centuries upon centuries – and yet, I have begun to see as we dive deeper into the immense history of these wonderful beings, there seems to be similar patterns regarding storytelling that have remained stable since the dawn of human to mermaid relationships.

One particular example I want to focus on is discussed in the Penguin Book of Mermaids: Introduction, in regards to the romantic relationship between mermaid and man. Of course, the same as many others, I know of many tales in which the hopeless romantic mermaid falls in love with her mysterious Human male counterpart, and typically, by the end of the story, has given up her life in the sea to be with him. As mentioned in the book, there is a trend in which mermaids come to shore expected to be “domesticated” to fit the idea of a perfect wife and mother. The mermaid is seen as wild and carefree, something the human male must correct to integrate her with his society. This directly correlates with the misogynistic viewpoints and stereotypes we still see today. Correlating with what we have discussed in class, the church used mermaids as a scare tactic – something for men to be cautious of. In other words – the dangers of women and their femininity. Why is it that the mermaid is expected to conform to the human male society and not reversed?

I do not know any mainstream or popular stories in which a merman falls in love with an onshore woman, ready to give up his life at sea for her. The story is deeply rooted into our society’s misogynistic and patriarchal beliefs centered around how women should act and behave in the company or relationships of men. This aspect of mermaids and sea monsters in general (including selkies) is something I never imagined spending so much focus and attention on, yet the representation of mermaids as “objects” vs a being is something I am very interested in diving deeper into.