The lure of mermaiding is clear from the Montreal home of Marielle Henault, which is stuffed to the gills with mermaid tails. “I think there’s room under the sea for all of us,” Monique says. “I’m a 300-pound Black mermaid in America over 35, and hopefully that tells somebody they can do whatever they want to do,” says Monique, whose group sells shirts that read ‘Fat mermaids make waves’ and ‘Gender is fluid under the sea.’ “Sure, on the one hand it is really silly, but I’ve watched it change people’s lives.”Īfter all, the ocean is vast, she notes, and most of the planet is covered in water. It is also inspiring to merfolk like Che Monique, the Washington, D.C.-based founder of the Society of Fat Mermaids, which promotes body-positive mermaiding. That openness attracts some transgender people who empathize with Ariel’s agony of being trapped in a body that feels wrong. It is also a world, merfolk say, where you can be whoever and whatever you want. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!”Īway from the critics and chaos of life on land, mer-world is the kinder, gentler and more joyful alternative to the real world.
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. On a planet plagued by war, disease and social upheaval, many merfolk have found life in the water a refuge. 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.
… It’s a good skill in the real world, especially during the pandemic.”Īcross 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. “The world outside is really noisy and you will find peace under water. “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.