Mermaids: Hooked on the Lore, or the Allure?

With all of the romance, lust, mystery, and occasional danger folded into nearly every mermaid tale, it’s somewhat easy to explain our fixation on these characters. But where the stories ensnare us all is in how one-dimensional they can be, especially when it comes to surface level mermaid archetypes, which are often full of hyper-sexualization, body image expectations, and heteronormative gender roles. Dive in with us past the surface level narratives we’ve learned about merfolk, and explore deeper waters.

Featured in this Episode:

Gabriel Rivera / Nymphia the Nautilus Mermaid

• Instagram: @nautilusseanymph
• TikTok: @nautilusseanymph
• Facebook: Nymphia: The Nautilus Mermaid 

Benjamin Radford

• Website: www.benjaminradford.com
• Podcast: Squaring the Strange Episode 143: Merfolk, Merfact, Merfiction
• Article: Live Science - Mermaids & Mermen: Facts & Legends

Oak Honey

• TikTok: @oakhoney
• Instagram: @oakhoneyy

About Our Sponsor:

• Janji aims to explore, connect, and give back by crafting comfortable, responsibly-produced running apparel guided by the places we run and the people we meet.
• Get 15% off your next order of Janji with code SEXOUTSIDE at checkout

Additional Resources:

• Medium - The History of Mermaids Isn’t What You Think It Is
• Performing Humanity - Mermaids & Sirens: Women’s Relationship with Water from Myth to Renaissance 
• About the Siren TV series
• MerNetwork
• Mermaids - supporting transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families since 1995.

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• Need a transcript for this episode? Find it here.

Hosted and produced by  Laura Borichevsky.
Cover artwork by  Hailey Hirst.
Music by The Wild Wild, Timbre, and Wavcrush, licensed via  MusicBed.