A Mermaid Conspiracy Theory? (also Ama Fisherwomen!)

[Mermaid Clarity]

http://expeditiongranted.nationalgeographic.com/project/killing-mermaids

So apparently National Geographic lets people ask for money to do expeditions and research into whatever they wish and this ballerina wants to study mermaid mythology as it links to the Ama Fishwerwomen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ama_(diving)) but then she goes on to say that men might be trying destroy what used to be their matriarchal culture. I don't know about the whole "conspiracy to destroy the matriarchal society of women" but it would be nice to see more studies and research into the Ama fisherwoman and their history.

[Echidna]

The islands dependent on (female) divers were probably matriarchal indeed, as were many other cultures.

To pin mermaid myths solely on diver sightings is daring though.
I believe it has played a big part in some parts of the world, but it doesn't explain similar legends from regions where diving was not practiced or impossible.

The theory behind this claims divers once were prevalent everywhere, but the Church forbade the practice, and it was continued in secrecy.
While that's a nifty idea, the problem is that there is zero evidence for this.

Also, tales of fairies (with or without fishtails) living in every puddle are older than any religion, and from the tales it is VERY clear those beings are supernatural, not human divers at any rate.

Guess we'll never know, but learning more about ama history would still be interesting.

[Mermaid Clarity]

it's a cute theory and i'd support it only to find out more about the Ama divers but I don't think I could stomach an entire documentary if it was so focused on the "anti-matriarchal society" conspiracy. I have low tolerance for stuff like that.

[AptaMer]

LOL, the Ama don't need an American with a pet theory to document their lives. Numerous Japanese scholars have documented their history and culture. The first writing about them dates from around 760 AD by Otomo no Yakamochi, and Sei Shonagon who was lady-in-waiting to Empress Teishi wrote an account of them in 1002 AD, in her Pillow Book, one of the most famous books in Japanese literature.

From what I've read about their culture, they weren't "matriarchal" or "patriarchal" They did divide tasks and roles, though, with the women diving for shellfish and seaweed, and the men fishing. The men usually did the diver tending role when the women were diving in deeper water and used rope assistance.

Ama culture was unusual, though, in the sense that women were encouraged, both by their diving peers, and the men, to be economically independent. This was considered very strange and subversive, in older Japanese times. Women could make a very good living by diving in the old days. That's changing now, though, as shellfish and kelp populations decline.

[AniaR]

Ama is also a Cherokee word for water. It is where my sis got her Mer name.

This is interesting!

[AptaMer]

Hey Raina,

Ama can have a whole bunch of meanings in Japanese, some of them nice, some not so nice unfortunately, but the word Ama referring to the divers is written in kanji 海女, literally sea (海) woman (女)