Mermaiding (1 Viewer)

Optimus Prime

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I had no idea this was a thing
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SYDNEY (AP) — There was a pivotal moment in Queen Pangke Tabora’s life that eclipsed all others: It was the moment, she says, when she first slid her legs into a mermaid tail.

For the transgender Filipina woman approaching middle age, seeing her legs encased in vibrant, scaly-looking neoprene three years ago was the realization of a childhood dream.

And it marked the beginning of her immersion into a watery world where she would find acceptance. The former insurance company worker described the experience of gliding under water, half-human and half-fish, as “meditation in motion.”

“The feeling was mermai-zing,” Tabora said one recent morning while lounging in a fiery red tail on a rocky beach south of Manila, where she now teaches mermaiding and freediving full-time. “The world outside is really noisy and you will find peace under water. … It’s a good skill in the real world, especially during the pandemic.”

Across the world, there are thousands more merfolk like her — at its simplest, humans of all shapes, genders and backgrounds who enjoy dressing up as mermaids.

In recent years, a growing number have gleefully flocked to mermaid conventions and competitions, formed local groups called “pods,” launched mermaid magazines and poured their savings into a multimillion-dollar mermaid tail industry.

On a planet plagued by war, disease and social upheaval, many merfolk have found life in the water a refuge. Perhaps Sebastian, the ornery crab in the 1989 film “The Little Mermaid,” said it best in his warning to land-loving mermaid Ariel: “The human world, it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!”……

When mermaiding first started to catch on, most tails for sale were custom-made silicone creations that weigh up to 23 kilograms (50 pounds), cost upwards of $6,000 and take a surprising amount of time and lubricant to wrestle into.

But over the past few years, the increasing availability of cheaper, lighter fabric options — some of which sell for less than $100 — has transformed the mermaiding community from an exclusive enclave for privileged professionals into an achievable dream for the wider public.

As mermaiding went mainstream, glamorous photos of mermaids resplendent in glitzy tails began gaining traction on social media, further fuelling mer-mania.

An obsession with “The Little Mermaid” is common among merfolk, and there is anticipation of a fresh wave of mermaiding interest when a live action reboot of the film is released next year…….



 
Let me slip on one of those tails and if someone would be so kind to ask Green Peace to roll me back into the water I would like to see what all the fuss is about.
 
…..Pre-pandemic, I started interviewing mermaids across the world. As a writer I’ve often been accused of using a non sequitur, so the concept of a professional mermaid appealed to me.

On the 2017 US census 1,000 Americans listed their profession as mermaid. “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Skyping” struck me as a great title … also, Skype has a very aquatic ringtone.

Do-doo-do-blip-blip – it sounds like water rippling out across the internet. Aysun, my first Skype conversation, worked in a lagoon at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Texas. “Rennies” are outdoor cosplay villages that incorporate fantastical elements; they are big gigs for American mermaids.

Aysun told me her real name was Caryl Seaman but as a mermaid you need to create a believable mersona – mer is a surprisingly elastic prefix. Aysun, her mermaid character, is from the Black Sea and owns a pet catshark called Boo, because a catfish sounds worn out.

Aysun, the irreverent mermaid, remains one of my favourite interviews. She now works six months of the year across three Rennies. She’s also published a book about Aysun’s adventures, whereas my mermaid book is ongoing. I’m now 48, and so tangled up in mermaid tails that I’m waving and drowning with no one to reel me in.

Did you know that in 1964, America’s first Sea World opened with a live show of “sea maids”? Today mermaids have gigs in aquariums worldwide. Mermaid Karin performs at the Blue Planet in Copenhagen, and if she bumps into Madonna – a manta ray – she just has to feel her way along the edge until she can push off…..

Did you know that in 1964, America’s first Sea World opened with a live show of “sea maids”? Today mermaids have gigs in aquariums worldwide. Mermaid Karin performs at the Blue Planet in Copenhagen, and if she bumps into Madonna – a manta ray – she just has to feel her way along the edge until she can push off.

In 2018, I attended the Mercon convention on Manly beach in Sydney. That year I also wandered New York’s Coney Island mermaid parade in a blue dress with a clamshell bra. Next I took a flight to the Wreck bar in Florida to meet MeduSirena, AKA Wendy Marina Anderson: “The ocean is my home, but the swimming pool is my stage.”

MeduSirena performs in one of the last remaining porthole bars, set inside the B Ocean resort (originally the Yankee Clipper hotel) in Fort Lauderdale. For 16 years, she has run her swim shows with her aquaticrew.

She is inspired by the retro aqua shows first popular during the golden age of tourism. “We’re stunt performers. Everything is based on sculling. Even bubble rings are tactical to regulate buoyancy.”……

 
Last weekend, around a community pool near Sacramento, flippers were being unpacked, glowing bubble crowns secured to wigs, and glittery eye makeup donned: the annual US meeting of mermaids was underway.

Hundreds gathered for the California Mermaid Convention: a three-day celebration of the increasingly popular practice of “mermaiding”. Part cosplay, part athletic endeavor, the hobby ranges from casual dress up to certified divers who strap on “monofins” and swim together in a pool or the open ocean.

Above all, mermaids are an inclusive community working to maintain its magic as participation grows, thanks in part to easily accessible fins and excitement about Disney’s reboot of The Little Mermaid.

Billed as the world’s longest running mermaid gathering, the California Mermaid Convention began as an informal event among friends in 2011 and has grown into a full weekend tailored to merfolk – the gender-neutral term for mermaid enthusiasts – of all varieties. Attendees range from professionally trained mermaids who perform at underwater shows to “guppies” – the community term to those new to the mer-world.

Merfolk came from all over the world, with one mermaid saying she took four different flights from her home in northern Canada. Around a pool for group swimming in fins, there were panels, underwater photoshoots, workshops and vendors for all kinds of mermaid memorabilia.

Events kicked off on Friday night at Dive Bar – a mermaid-centric club that hosts nightly underwater shows. Attendees dressed in mermaid gear (minus the fins) sipped on cocktails, oohed and aahed at the swimming performers, and participated in a contest that honored participants whose creations “best showcased their mer-sonalities”.

On Saturday, the community pool party was infused with an overwhelming air of support and joy – with attendees hyping up each other’s outfits with a popular refrain of “Yes, fish!” At the day’s close, merfolk dressed up in their finest costumes for the Bubble Ball, a kind of mermaid prom where couples slow danced to The Little Mermaid’s Kiss the Girl and a conga line of jellyfish, pirates, mermaids and one person in a shrimp costume weaved around the dance floor. On Sunday, a mermaid parade through Old Sacramento – the event that first launched the convention – closed out the magical weekend..............


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