When you're a dude and people ask if you're a real Mermaid...

[Merman_Shawn]

So little kids and adults alike don't seem to know the difference between a mermaid and a merman. So I made a shirt to clear up any confusion. :cool:
http://www.redbubble.com/people/azrial-shion/works/16349015-real-merman?p=t-shirt&style=mens

[AniaR]

You rock

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[Theobromine]

That's awesome! I was swimming one time and a little boy asked me if he could be a mermaid when he grew up too. I was like "well, you can be a merMAN..."

[Merman_Shawn]

Haha! Thanks ladies!
Yeah, people seem to not realize that the "maid" in mermaid is short for "maiden".

[Vrindavana Starfish]

Nice shirt design!

[MermanOliver]

Cool! :)

Would like one, but with shipping to Europe, duty and taxes it will be prohibitively expensive (guess it would at least double in price). But cool, nevertheless. :thumbs up:

[Ashe]

Beautiful haha

[Mer-Crazy]

I have people at work asking me all the time what would you call a boy mermaid. I always thought it was common knowledge but I'm learning a lot of things I thought were common knowledge apparently aren't haha.

Also love the shirt <3

[Merman_Shawn]

Cool! :)

Would like one, but with shipping to Europe, duty and taxes it will be prohibitively expensive (guess it would at least double in price). But cool, nevertheless. :thumbs up:

Oliver, if there's a European printing service like Red Bubble, I can look into getting an account and sell the shirt from them too. I'm just not sure which service would work best. Any thoughts?

[Merman_Shawn]

Thanks again folks! I'm glad it's getting such a positive reaction!

[Merman Jamie]

I am going to have to get me one of these

[Merman Dan]

There seems to be an age barrier when it comes to the acceptance of mermen. I swim regularly in my tail at the local aquatic center. Older folks say things like "look at the mermaid" or "is that a mermaid tail?"... Seriously? Does it look like I am wearing seashells? ;) Younger folks seem to understand how it works. Two teens once greeted me in the locker room with "'sup Mr. Merman"

[Merman_Shawn]

I'm 31, so I was exposed to The 13th Year and The Little Mermaid movie/animated series as a kid. This generation has Mako Mermaids.
There seems to be an association with merfolk and femininity, which wouldn't have been all that acceptable on a man 50-60 years ago. I'm not even sure the term "merman" even exists in common vernacular for people of a certain age.

[Merman Dan]

Agreed. I'm doing my best, here, to promote the cause. :) To be honest, I love my pool. The staff is courteous albeit curious. They honest love to see merfolk show up and they spend time talking with us. The same goes for the other members. They are loaded with questions and at times think the whole thing is comical but who wouldn't? I have never had a negative experience, here. But yes, there is room for improvement. Aside from etsy there are no plush merman dolls. Few folks know of Poseidon, Dagon, and the like. We have our work cut out for us, but I'm having fun enlightening the masses!

[Keiris]

I've been lucky..no one has called me a mermaid yet but I have had a few that want their pic taken with me!

[CheshireKat]

I usually just correct people, and if they persist proceed to look at them with a 'oh you poor idiot, where were you when they were handing out the brains?' look and proceed to educate them in glorious tedious detail on just how many references or merman there actually are. Usually once I get past Triton, Poseidon, Aquaman, and Namor they're backpedaling, if not I break out the big guns like Glaucus, Ea, Enki, Oannes, and Sadko.

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[Merman_Shawn]

I am going to have to get me one of these

Hey Jamie, did my other shirt arrive in the post yet? :)

[Merman Jamie]

Hey Jamie, did my other shirt arrive in the post yet? :)

Yes it did. I have it on atm. Its awesome.

[MerAnthony]

I have been call a mermaid to many times to count. (LMAO) Your shirts are really cool an it is a fantastic idea but $24.00 is just a bit out of my price range.

[PearlieMae]

I think the catchall term 'mermaid' is just locked into the vernacular, like Kleenex or Bandaid. MerMAID doesn't register as being feminine in a lot of people's minds anymore. It just means half human/half fish.

Same thing happens in the Pagan community. Thanks to the 60s tv show Bewitched, the assumption is that women are witches, and men are warlocks. 'Witch' is derived from 'wicce', meaning 'wise', and 'warlock' comes from the word meaning 'traitor'. (Celtic, or maybe Scottish...I forget.)

[Merman_Shawn]

I usually just correct them too, but I thought the shirt might be fun to wear anyway. That way I can just point at it.

Keiris you lucky dog!

Dan, keep preaching the good word. :D

[Aysun_the_Mermaid]

I keep thinking about this scene whenever this thread shows up in my feed:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/19/9e75f19289281a989f534dd71dc36182.jpg

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[PearlieMae]

Hahaha!

I neglected to mention that the shirt is great!

[Merman_Shawn]

I keep thinking about this scene whenever this thread shows up in my feed:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/19/9e75f19289281a989f534dd71dc36182.jpg

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Hahahahahahha! Yes! I love that movie. I can't wait for the sequel.


Hahaha!

I neglected to mention that the shirt is great!

Thanks Pearlie! I agree about what you said a few posts ago.

[Mermaid_Sarina]

I love the shirt! I'm thinking I'll get it for my dad, partly because i'm trying to convince him to be a Merman. Also this is my new favourite thread! I feel sorry for you blokes having to deal with the whole "Mermaid" dilemma, but its pretty funny as well. Its probably better then being asked if you're a whale :P

[Merman Dan]

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/its-wales-you-idiot.jpeg

[Merman_Shawn]

I love the shirt! I'm thinking I'll get it for my dad, partly because i'm trying to convince him to be a Merman. Also this is my new favourite thread! I feel sorry for you blokes having to deal with the whole "Mermaid" dilemma, but its pretty funny as well. Its probably better then being asked if you're a whale :P

Eh, it's just annoying to me more than oppressive or anything. I just thought it was a cute way out of the "are you real?" question for us guys. lol


Dan, you are too much! lmao

[Vrindavana Starfish]

I keep thinking about this scene whenever this thread shows up in my feed:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09/19/9e75f19289281a989f534dd71dc36182.jpg

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I probably reference this movie - particularily this scene - at least once a week. :)

[Mermaid_Sarina]

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/its-wales-you-idiot.jpeg

Bloody hell! Haha, this is perfect!

[Mermaid Alea]

Mermen are so cool.

I really wish I could get my boyfriend and his guy friends to be mermen. I want to be a mermaid in a pod of mermen. My boyfriend likes using my monofin and his best friend tried swimming with my monofin once...I wonder if there is any hope... :violin:

I love that part in Zoolander! I make my boyfriend quote that to me haha. :p "I think I have the black lung Pop..."

[Merman_Shawn]

This seems appropriate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSRSL0zmaMM

[Vrindavana Starfish]

That was awesome! :)

[MermaidDalni]

I think about it this way- In languages like french and spanish, a group no matter how big will use the masculine version of the word if there's even only one male there. I think the term mermaids is the same thing, but instead of automatically being the masculine word it becomes the feminine

[Winged Mermaid]

Sadly mermen get overlooked a lot :/ That's why ever since I started MerYuku I started using the word "merfolk", and "mer" or "mers" for short, I didn't want to be exclusive toward the guys (or people that don't identify as either, or as both, for that matter). I'm glad it caught on :) Yeah it shafts us in Search Engine Optimization but whatevs.
Sadly mermen still get shafted for getting recondition becuase most people only search for "mermaid" whatever, not "merman" or even "merfolk" or whatever. Still, at least the merman hashtag isn't loaded with every chick who has wavy hair, colored hair (scratch that, that's now a merman tag problem too!), anyone by the water, or anyone with a starbucks cup, or blue nails or just random selfies. :P

[Lucinda]

That's awesome! I was swimming one time and a little boy asked me if he could be a mermaid when he grew up too. I was like "well, you can be a merMAN..."

I'd be a bit careful with that. You never know if some of those 'boys' might be transgender. It might crush the hopes of a transgirl if she's told that she can be a merman when she grows up but not a mermaid. That would be like saying that she can't be a woman for real when she grows up, only man.
A safer option would be to say something like: "Sure, you can be a merman... or, if really want to, you can be a mermaid."
That way the kid would be allowed to identify with whichever gender they chose. Just my two cents.

[Theobromine]

Lucinda I agree with you...I'm just horribly awkward around kids :P My usual glibness deserted me.

(Iona can probably confirm how terrible I am with kids...just ask her...argh)

[Theobromine]

(Also, in my defense, in context it seemed like the kid just didn't know the term merman. But it was still awkward and I never really know what I can say to kids that they'll understand. Usually when they ask me a question I give them an overly technical scientific answer and their parents just look at me funny and say "he's four" or whatever.)

[Lotus the Mermaid]

Yes! I love everything about this thread.

I honestly love seeing mermen, but I feel so bad that I've seen so many mention their struggles with people being ignorant jerks to them for not fitting into what they feel is "masculine."

That's just as bad as someone telling a woman she shouldn't go to work to provide for her children because that's "the man's job."

Ugh, sexism. :'<

Sorry to rant. Again, I love everything about this thread. We need more mermen!!! :cheerleader:

[TritonsGuard]

I believe there are ways that mermen can look undeniably male. I've seen it before. Not saying that there isn't sexism, but it is possible to make tails and other things that are masculine. How one can go about doing this is to examine things that in the real world that are considered masculine, and incorporate them into what you make.