I Wish I Was a Mermaid...

I was on Tumblr last night and I saw this picture...

and I decided I wanted to dive into the history of mermaid myths (haha). When my sister and I were younger we would pretend to be mermaids in our pool for hours. For me being a mermaid was right up there with being a princess or a witch like Hermione Granger. Thinking about it know, it seems odd that a little girl would wish to be a half-fish creature. But anyway, where did the idea of mermaids originate? Some scholars think that people mistakenly took manatees to be mermaids, especially when they emerged from the surface of the water with seaweed on their heads (this actually sounds adorable). But even before this, ideas of mermaids were present in Syria and Babylonia in the form of water gods. And of course in Greek mythology in the form of Poseidon. In Japan, consuming the flesh of a mermaid was thought to prevent death (yikes!). It's interesting to note that mermen are normally depicted as unattractive, the complete opposite of the alluring mermaids. 

So back to the idea of it being odd for little girls to want to be half-fish, half-woman. I think that even though mermaids can't ever walk on land (unless of course they sell their soul...) there is something powerful in being able to lure men to their death. While many young girls don't know this side of the mermaid myth, I personally think they should. I think the myth of the mermaid is one of the few myths in which females have agency and they aren't demonized for it. 

Source: newworldencyclopedia.org