Banning Tails...Here we go again...Please visit and comment (politely)!

[PearlieMae]

http://nbc4i.com/2015/08/14/mermaid-tail-causes-concern-among-parents-injury-experts/

Ohio, this time.

[AniaR]

Someone link my CTV video its on YouTube ! I can't from my phone

[Yulia]

This one?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIdP2gvio8E

[PearlieMae]

Someone link my CTV video its on YouTube ! I can't from my phone

Done! I added it to the end of my comment!

[Echidna]

Parade example of why I hate media and self-proclaimed "experts".


McKenzie says there are inherent problems with the mermaid suit. Primarily, the legs and feet are constricted while the swim device is being worn.

“The suits keep you from righting yourself while in the water,” said McKenzie.

I do waterballet in tails.
I can "right myself" in any direction, including upside down.



Also, the person wearing the suit must hop around the pool to get to the water.


no, absolutely not.
If someone does this, they're doing it wrong. Very.


Lara McKenzie, Ph.D, associate professor at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Center for Injury Research and Policy.

And, another wonderful example of an academic title that you can stuff where the sun don't shine.


Is the picture in the article the infamous non-swimmer "flipping girl" in the too shallow pool?

[AniaR]

I put in a comment but I see they're being reviewed. I don't see anyone else's there. Here's mine:

So many issues with this article! I wish people wouldn't just jump on the bandwagon of being afraid of something new. Here in Canada I educate and train both lifeguards, parents, kids, and adults on mermaid and monofin swimming. (I have a degree in child development, a teaching degree, and am a first aid instructor), along with running an award winning mermaid company)

First off the video still you're showing, I spoke directly with the mom. Her daughter had never used a tail before and she told her to do a flip. Most kids get stuck with bums floating up anytime they try to do a flip. Your first instinct when buying your child a fin shouldn't be to tell them to flip. Parents need to read the safety instructions, make sure their child is capable, and be in the water with them.

None of these articles ever talk about the fact that in 100 years of these being around (yes, they have been... I've published two books on it) have there been any recorded drownings. Furthermore- all fins come with either safety release buttons or safety release protocols.

Where I live kids are given a swim test before being permitted to use the fins and part of that means showing how to get them off and on.

Also, no children do not have to hop around the pool to get in. What kind of idiot says that? They sit on the pool deck, put the tail on like a skirt next to the water, the bottom is open and they can then put the monofin in and hop into the water.

It's almost like the people blathering on in these articles don't know what they're talking about.

Thankfully over here, we embrace education instead of fear ;) it's just like any other childhood sport. Hockey, gymnastics, swimming... they all have risks and you take proper precautions.

Mermaid swimming burns up to 500 calories and hour which helps with childhood obesity rates, it encourages physical fitness especially in girls who studies show are not encouraged the same way. It also encourages imagination which studies show link to later life success.

Here's my local news segment where I was invited to speak about the fins for kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIdP2gvio8E

[Merman Dan]

Is anyone in the Columbus area willing to show this person how a mermaid really swims?

Center for Injury Research and Policy - Meet Our Team (http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/cirp-team) - Lara B. McKenzie, Ph.D., MA (http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/lara-b-mckenzie)
Email: Lara.McKenzie@nationwidechildrens.org

[Yulia]

I've seen videos of people that was born without arms, legs, or with joined legs AND THEY SWIM PERFECTLY FINE IN THE WATER

[Echidna]

Yea.
Many peeps seem to have a strange..."spreading legs"-fixation.
And as soon as that isn't possible, their brains stop working.

[PearlieMae]

Damn! I should have taken a screenshot! They deleted my comment!

[Mermaid Olivia!]

That stinks that they deleted yours, Pearlie! Added my little 2 cents in the comments.

Being a mermaid myself, I am always upset to learn that a facility has banned tails rather than taking the time to learn about them and how they work. I would venture to bet that the majority of people who are labeling tails as "unsafe" have never seen one in person, let alone actually swam with one. I personally have had several years of experience swimming with several types of tails, including the particular fabric ones that are the main concern here, and have never at any point felt like I was in danger. Tails are not toys- they are swimming devices that have been designed with both safety and efficiency in mind. As a matter of fact, monofins (the fin inside the tail) are used to help train Olympic swimmers. Swimming with a monofin or tail is the most fun form of exercise I could imagine! The key to enjoying mermaid swimming safely is to use common sense. Be confident in your swimming skills before you try swimming with a tail. Never swim alone, and don't swim in water that is deeper than what you are comfortable with. For young children, it is the parent or guardian's job to make sure that their child is an advanced enough swimmer to swim with a tail, and to supervise them at all times when they swim with it. Believe it or not, I actually find that swimming with a tail is much easier and more effective than swimming with legs. I can swim faster and more gracefully, and also tread water much easier. I find it a shame that others may not get to try this fun, healthy hobby because their local pool has banned tails for being "dangerous". I hope that instead of implementing a ban, the facility mentioned in the article will do some research and discover that swimming with a tail carries no more risk than any other kind of physical activity.

[Mermaid Alea]

Is anyone in the Columbus area willing to show this person how a mermaid really swims?

Center for Injury Research and Policy - Meet Our Team (http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/cirp-team) - Lara B. McKenzie, Ph.D., MA (http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/lara-b-mckenzie)
Email: Lara.McKenzie@nationwidechildrens.org

I really hope someone is nearby and can do a demonstration.

This part was weird to read: "But with the suits being relatively new, there isn’t much data to go on." Really? What is Mernetwork then? There is tons of data.

I don't think anyone is doing their research and is instead jumping to conclusions...Speaking of jumping, we all know you don't jump over to the pool in your tail.

[AniaR]

Ummm we may be actually doing the first ever mermaid tail ( kids and adult) research study with dal university this semester ;p so there will actually be a published peer reviewed study everyone can reference soon haha

[stellar lee]

How long have the Weekie Wachee mermaids been swimming in tails? That strikes me as a very solid example of positive mermaids in the media.

[Celaeno]

Ummm we may be actually doing the first ever mermaid tail ( kids and adult) research study with dal university this semester ;p so there will actually be a published peer reviewed study everyone can reference soon haha

YES! Awesome, this is awesome.

[Mermaid Alea]

That will be great!

Stellar Lee that is true Weeki Wachee might be a good example.

[PearlieMae]

And another publication on the "new" trend of mermaiding...Please help enlighten!

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/08/hot-new-trend-alert-mermaids.html

(edit: Raina, I quoted you heavily from a previous publication!)

[TritonsGuard]

As a gun activist, I have seen this kind of behavior many times before. Let me tell you who these people are.

They have never been in a tail, and probably rarely even swim. Has anyone else noticed none of these "experts" are from an aquatic background? It scares them because they don't know how to swim well, and believe the rest of humanity is the same. I would not be surprised if many of them think the tail would be at fault for something bad happening. They blame the object and not the person using it irresponsibly.

They are blinded by their own irrational fear. Despite the very true fact that all of you have stated many times, "no one has ever drown in a mermaid tail,"
they believe with absolute certainty that if more people get into mermaiding that there will be a lot more drownings. They only see the negative, and it blinds them from all facts. They are willing to take any event, no matter how rare, that suits their way of thinking and cast it as the norm. I will say, the first mer to drown will be used as an example by them, but they won't care about the person. They will only be too glad they have a grave to stand upon.

They don't care about mermaiding because it is not their hobby. To them, if mermaiding is banned, so what? It is nothing in their minds. A word of warning to all of you not to get too mad when at a time, you tell them it is your hobby and very much enjoy it, and they respond with "Well get a another hobby." It will be very infuriating, because it is wrong, unthoughtful, and uncaring.

In my opinion, the only way to enlighten them is to get them in a tail.

[Echidna]

As a gun activist, I have seen this kind of behavior many times before. Let me tell you who these people are.

I know this is your pet topic, but there is a teeny difference between a costume/swimming equipment, and a weapon which one and only use is to harm or kill something. :rolleyes:

[TritonsGuard]

So what is your point? Many things only have one general purpose, so how does what you said have any relevance to this discussion? We all know that guns are built to be able to kill (guns aren't built to maim) and tails are meant for swimming, so why even bring it up? Whether or not weapons should be banned is a discussion for somewhere else. If you would like, Private message me, and we can discuss it elsewhere. My point was that these people who are working to ban tails, in many ways, have the same mind set as those that work to ban firearms.

If you were to not relate my points to firearms, were any of them wrong? Do you believe any of these people have ever been in a tail before, that they care about the fact that mermaiding has never resulted in death, or any of them give a darn about mermaiding?

[AniaR]

I have to agree. Living in a country WITH gun control, the two couldn't be more different. No one has died from mermaid tails, but in america you have more die from just mass shooting in a year than we do in a decade.

There's no debate between guns and mermaid tails. Let's keep the " don't take my guns" ( which BTW doesn't actually happen with gun control) off this forum please.

[PearlieMae]

:clap:

[TritonsGuard]

I agree. It is not a subject for here. I was not trying to convert anyone, raise awareness of it, or accuse anyone here of doing anything. I even said that was not the point I was trying to make. Was merely stating that I have seen the same arguments to ban weapons as I have tails. You believe there is no comparison, and I agree with you. They are two very different objects with very different functions that don't need to be compared, and yet these people go about tails the same way as they would a very dangerous object. Do you not find it curious how the way your opposition is handling this very similarly? I do, because with the record it has, mermaiding shouldn't be treated this way. You are safe about it, and there have not been any problems with it, so why do they go about it the same way?

Obviously, I was not as clear about that as I wanted to be, and I apologize if it came across as something else.

[OrcaMatt]

Was merely stating that I have seen the same arguments to ban weapons as I have tails.I thought that was pretty clear in the original post.

The comparison between the two groups - anti-gun/anti-tail - made sense to me too, the arguments seem to come from the same place emotionally.

[SeaGlass Siren]

These people need a fish slap :/ ugh. Like .. I can't. Literally I can't.
also :coughkumbayayoumerfoskumbayacough: