Mer-Allies among other unusual communities?

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Hey everyone, I was watching a show where people build special treehouses, and they constructed one for a couple who were part of the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas (wherein the husband had a white beard and dressed as Santa Claus, while the wife dressed as Mrs. Claus), and several of the other members of their order came and helped with the construction of the treehouse (which was fashioned to resemble Santa's workshop). Looking at the website for this order, it seems that they have have rather more rules (and background checks) than merfolk do, but it occurred to me that they must get plenty of odd looks and remarks themselves, and that it might be interesting to see if there are other groups out there that do similar kinds of things to merring. I know that there's plenty of interest in fairy depictions, and ren faire and re-enactment groups are certainly possibilities as well, to say nothing of the Real Life Superheroes. There are a ton of cosplayers and convention people, not to mention LARPers and Furries, but I am sure that there are plenty of characters (such as the Fraternal Order Of Real Bearded Santas) about which we have no idea, and that contacting them and seeing what we have in common might make for an interesting way to spread the word of the Mer-Community (and possibly share things like photo shoots, find sources of mertenders, and other essential roles for the community, while exploring other communities and what they offer as well).

So, do you know any potential mer-allies?

[MermaidMichelle]

Yours is a rather intriguing idea; I am mild-acquaintances with famous real-life superheroes Phoenix Jones and his wife, Purple Reign (I haven't met them in person due to geography, though), and they get into at least as much danger as we merfolk do at times! Any support we can get is desirable; as a consecrated maiden en route to becoming a Sister I have no boyfriend or mortal/physical husband upon whom to rely, and thus my immediate thought was to your suggestion of mertenders in particular as I know the value of convincing a man to show off their strength by carrying around a beautiful young mermaid.... :pearl:

On a more-general note, I cannot help but notice the wide range of groups to which you have referred. I have become somewhat curious as to the motives and goals of the Real Bearded Santas, for they remain mysterious without additional explanation, and must also point out the inherent danger in confusing cosplayers and LARPers with Real-Life Superheroes! :shark: Simply put, we must reach a consensual definition of what our community is about in the process of seeking such recognition.

Hopefully it should not be too difficult, at least if I am correct regarding it being about the following: a mutual fascination with mermaid mythology, a love of children and making their dreams come true, an interest in swimming, and a desire to save the seas and all things aquatic. If these are the main components of the Mer-Community, they could give us a very positive image indeed! :mermaid kiss:

[deepblue]

Mermaiding has nothing to do with liking children. I do love children, and have one myself. lol But. My mermaid desires have nothing to do with kids or making their dreams come true. Pro mermaids do tend to work with kids. Not every mer is a pro.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I bought a tail to make MY swimming a fun exercise. If other kids and people ask about it, I tell them where I got it. As for professional mermaiding, I really don't know at this point, as the only kids I can stand are my niece and nephew. If they are well behaved children I suppose they are ok to be with too. But other than that, I don't aim to be swimming with kids or show off or anything like that. I'm not a showy person by nature. I like to go into my own lane, do my own thing and forget all my worries, even for just 1 hour.

[deepblue]

I don't have an answer for the OP's question, but I will say this: the Mer community is far too diverse to be contained within a consensual definition. This is one of the things I like about the mer community, it is in no way narrow.

[MermaidMichelle]

Clearly, not all of my listed qualities are going to be present in all mermaids, especially the recreational ones. There is a consensual definition of the Mer-Community which I hold to be self-evident, however, and that is the first quality which I mentioned: a mutual fascination with mermaid mythology. This doesn't need to extend beyond a mild-to-moderate interest and does not necessarily need to involve wearing a mermaid tail, but it obviously needs to be present!

Every community will have its archetypical examples and many who do not fit the image or label (you needn't even get me started on my time with the Gothic subculture), but the more positive the image of that community, the better the time that all involved will experience.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Because the mer community's function and interests are so wide, however, that only means that mers with different foci can interact with different allies.

Mers interested in the environment or water safety might have common cause with some kinds of Real Life superheroes, as well as environmentalists and marine biologists, and lifeguards, the coast guard, scuba divers, etc. While police officers and firefighters (professional or volunteer) might be conservative bastions in some places, they also add an element of officialdom (and firefighters are trained in carrying people safely).

Mers interested in having fun and swimming around for their own enjoyment might find the random exuberance of polar bear swimmers (who also swim in unusual situations) as unlikely allies, or possibly those who swim regularly for exercise purposes. Lifeguards might also make good mertenders (assuming they know you and are off-duty).

Mers who model, obviously, will find allies among the photographers, models, and artistic communities, as well as theater and costume/clothing designers.

Mers who entertain might be able to work with other entertainers, such as clowns, magicians (maybe serving as magicians' assistants in exchange for mertender help) and so forth.

GaMERS might find friends and allies in the LARPing and role-playing game community, people in guilds and other friendly video/computer/MMO groups, and so forth.

Educational mers might find common cause with scientists, teachers, librarians, and so forth.

Musical and singing mers (and sirens) might instead find allies in the music community, choirs, and so forth, and I speak from personal experience when I say that you can meet a ton of interesting people while singing karaoke (also, Under the Sea is a huge hit at karaoke bars).

The potential value of groups like the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas is that, while many of them are older (they generally appear white or gray-haired and need to grow a decent beard) and therefore somewhat less likely to make good mertenders as far as showing off strength goes, they do seem to be well organized, do require FBI clearance checks to join (and ensure that they are reliable enough individuals), wear fantastical clothes, act, and deal with children on a regular basis (at least around the holidays).

A number of re-enactors and Ren Faire Folk can be a variety of ages, and they pay close attention to detail and getting into persona.

LARPers might seem like an odd choice, but I dare you to find better researched and more determined actors, especially given their tolerance of (and fascination with) the fantastical, which can potentially help your own mersona development.

Some drag queens or members of the GLBT community might also find common cause, even with straight, asexual, or religiously chaste merfolk, for that matter.

Heck, people in costumes don't even have to be the go-to allies. My sister's boyfriend aspires to take part in the sport of "Pumpkin Chunking," and anyone with the werewithal and desire to construct catapults and trebuchets in order to launch gourds through the air has to be capable of dealing with the same level of weirdness that persuades us to put on costume fish tails and swim. You could probably say the same thing for falconers, dog dancers, luge, quidditch players, and Finnish wife-carriers (who might be especially good at mertending). For that matter, bodybuilders and powerlifters (of all genders) might make extremely useful mertenders.

An addendum to my initial question is: "what sort of common ground do we have with people who take part in these other sorts of activities, and what could we offer to them in exchange for their assistance?"

[MermaidMichelle]

Wow; that is a fairly-extensive list of suggestions you have there! I didn't even know what a Finnish wife-carrier was until now! :pirate: (To think it might have originated from the stealing of women!)

I have had varying degrees of dealings with a number of these communities, and I can thus attest that if our community is associated with education, awareness, and a generally-positive image it will be considerably more appealing to others! :mermaid kiss:

[Vixy]

Sure, costumed hobby folks tend to stick together or at least the hobbies tend to merge and you find the same people in a lot of groups. Let alone the swimming aspect of it tends to bring scuba divers or free divers.

A few mers have said they're larpers as well as mers, cosplayers etc etc.

[Trade Winds]

I am otherkin and a furry. I have mentioned mermaiding in a few communities. Either it isn't known about and when they learn about it, they like it and/or are interested (in a good way). But from what I've seen it isn't terribly well known about aside from the merfolk who have made tv appearances. Haven't seen many otherkin or furs who are into it or have tails.

[Vixy]

I am otherkin and a furry. I have mentioned mermaiding in a few communities. Either it isn't known about and when they learn about it, they like it and/or are interested (in a good way). But from what I've seen it isn't terribly well known about aside from the merfolk who have made tv appearances. Haven't seen many otherkin or furs who are into it or have tails.

I mentioned about mermaiding in a costuming section in a furry forum, a few liked the idea of it but commented on how restricted the tail would be to a person. One commented on how it'll make them feel trapped.

[deepblue]

I've seen it mentioned to furries here and there and the first response has always been, "It's not FURRY." So there ya go.

Also, I'm not sure why so many mers are all about trying to find allies, or get the word out to spread mermaiding. I hate the idea of the community growing. Why? Because when something gets too big, it tends to lose quality. I want mers to find us, so I mention the forum in places like sea witch groups or the like, but when it comes to the general public... even my friends, who are some pretty damn cool people, just do not get it and the idea garners a lot of negative attention. I just don't see why people want it to grow. I see their reasons, but I don't agree.

[Trade Winds]

Also, I'm not sure why so many mers are all about trying to find allies, or get the word out to spread mermaiding. I hate the idea of the community growing. Why? Because when something gets too big, it tends to lose quality. I want mers to find us, so I mention the forum in places like sea witch groups or the like, but when it comes to the general public... even my friends, who are some pretty damn cool people, just do not get it and the idea garners a lot of negative attention. I just don't see why people want it to grow. I see their reasons, but I don't agree.

I can agree with this. Mentioning mermaiding to other comms I'm in is a good way to find other mers who might not be open to saying anything about it, but mixing destroys what any community is...it should be about mers, not this that and the other thing (just like, for example, furries are looked at poorly by the therian community; furries who are therians don't often mention it in the therian comms). The comms I'm a part of have a bad reputation to the general public. I'd prefer them to stay within itself and not get too much attention from others.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

I think sharing with others is valuable, if for no other reason than it spreads the word (and frankly, there need to be more mermen), and because you then get exposed to other communities and their interests, making you a more well-rounded individual. And, let's face it, the community is already mixed... there are mers who are furries (or scalies), neopagans, religious sisters, tailmakers, models, teachers, artists, writers, gamers, glbt, asexual, and probably a lot more that I'm forgetting about. And we already have idiots, jerks, brats, manipulators, drama-queens (and kings), and other undesirables here. What, precisely, would change?

[Kaila Mermaid]

As someone who has watched a very small community blossom into something enormous, I can agree whole-heartedly with Surly. When you become large enough that you need an archive, you've gone a wee bit too far ha ha. It garners more negative attention than you would generally expect. Lots of fake accounts and not to mention the growing threat of online predators. They become a very large problem in most larger communities. I say we don't try and necessarily meld with other groups, but inform other lonely mers and those who be interested of our existence. :) (I apologize in adance for errors. Haven't slept in days whoo hoo :( )

[MermaidMichelle]

Well, my religious mission keeps me from focusing on mermaiding, and I am fine with that arrangement. I may still do some professional mermaiding, however, and that is why my concern is with the positivity of the community and its image. Kaila, you and others seem to be focusing on the online community, and in that I can certainly understand your desire to keep it from growing too large; the internet can be a very foul place.