Safety concerns over tail swimming

[AniaR]

well our team is about to be all over major canadian news outlets this week as we're finally presented the check from our award. should be a good opportunity to bring it up.

[MermanOliver]

Seavanna, the ban of plastic bottles is a joke, right? No one can be that stupid, or can they? Please tell me that it is just irony! :-o Has the world gone completely mad?
And Raina, yes, the price presentation will be a perfect opportunity. That you have won shows that mermaiding is far more than just "silly young girls in tails", as the public opinion seem to think it is, and that it can be done safely and responsibly.
Sent from my phonebrick using Tapatalk

[TritonsGuard]

I am not surprised that people are getting scared about mermaiding, but not because I agree with them. The reason this is not unexpected is that when people see something they are not familiar with, many times they only see the negative.

I am no stranger to seeing this kind of behavior (I'm a competitive shooter). It's called "moral panic," and it has been used to try to ban many things in the past (examples: certain drugs, switchblade, pit-bull, and even "Pokémon"). Moral panic happens because of two thoughts in the peoples minds. The first is that they do not understand it and for what ever reason they feel uncomfortable, disturbed, or fear it. The second thought needed is that they believe a law will make it all go away. We have all heard it before, "there outta be a law," as if it will make everything better. However, in these cases it mostly hurts those that were using them safely (I'm willing to bet most of us here practice the rules of safe swimming, and yet we would be the ones most penalized). In short, it punishes the innocent.

How I'm familiar with this is that when it comes to guns, there is no shortage of people who want them gone. What I've found out though is that the vast majority of people trying to ban guns have never fired one or tried to understand those who do. The same could be said for us mers (how many of these so called "experts" do you think have talked to the mer community let alone put on a tail themselves?). Yet these people feel they are the most qualified to make the decision as to whether or not people should have them. However, the best way to prove them wrong is to have them do it themselves. I have seen and heard of many people (both men and women) who were anti-gun, and scared to death of them, that were invited to a range (Most of them by family or friends after being talked into it). Some were as scared as a cat in a dog show before they even touched the gun. However, after their first shot, they were hooked and wanted more. Perhaps the same could be done with tails.

The truth is hitherto I have never heard of anyone drowning while wearing a tail, and I'm not surprised about that either. Regardless of the kids swimming capabilities, I think that parents are more likely to watch their children more closely if the kids are wearing tails, thus making any mishaps with tails more likely to not end in anything very serious.

However, there will always be those that believe they know better then you, when in reality, they know nothing, but don't let them get you down.

[Merman Jamie]

I am not surprised that people are getting scared about mermaiding, but not because I agree with them. The reason this is not unexpected is that when people see something they are not familiar with, many times they only see the negative.

I am no stranger to seeing this kind of behavior (I'm a competitive shooter). It's called "moral panic," and it has been used to try to ban many things in the past (examples: certain drugs, switchblade, pit-bull, and even "Pokémon"). Moral panic happens because of two thoughts in the peoples minds. The first is that they do not understand it and for what ever reason they feel uncomfortable, disturbed, or fear it. The second thought needed is that they believe a law will make it all go away. We have all heard it before, "there outta be a law," as if it will make everything better. However, in these cases it mostly hurts those that were using them safely (I'm willing to bet most of us here practice the rules of safe swimming, and yet we would be the ones most penalized). In short, it punishes the innocent.

How I'm familiar with this is that when it comes to guns, there is no shortage of people who want them gone. What I've found out though is that the vast majority of people trying to ban guns have never fired one or tried to understand those who do. The same could be said for us mers (how many of these so called "experts" do you think have talked to the mer community let alone put on a tail themselves?). Yet these people feel they are the most qualified to make the decision as to whether or not people should have them. However, the best way to prove them wrong is to have them do it themselves. I have seen and heard of many people (both men and women) who were anti-gun, and scared to death of them, that were invited to a range (Most of them by family or friends after being talked into it). Some were as scared as a cat in a dog show before they even touched the gun. However, after their first shot, they were hooked and wanted more. Perhaps the same could be done with tails.

The truth is hitherto I have never heard of anyone drowning while wearing a tail, and I'm not surprised about that either. Regardless of the kids swimming capabilities, I think that parents are more likely to watch their children more closely if the kids are wearing tails, thus making any mishaps with tails more likely to not end in anything very serious.

However, there will always be those that believe they know better then you, when in reality, they know nothing, but don't let them get you down.

Agreed

[Mermaid Pickles]

I'm a pretty okay swimmer without my fins, but with my fins, I can swim circles around the other people in the pool, including the lifeguards, so....And honestly, mermaiding is why I'm able to swim at this point. I was terrified of water until I learned about mermaiding, so I forced myself to learn to swim and be okay with the water before I ended up getting a tail. i can tread pretty well, still sink like a rock, it takes like four pounds of weight on me with scuba gear to get me at the bottom of the pool, but I know how to swim and stay safe now.

Note: I am not scuba certified yet, I'm getting free classes for swimming as a mermaid with their classes.

[AniaR]

yup I didnt learn to swim til I was a teen and all I could do was doggie paddle. Actually... without my mermaid tail that's all I can still do! lol I can't even get underwater I am so buoyant- unless I'm wearing my mermaid tail.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

yup I didnt learn to swim til I was a teen and all I could do was doggie paddle. Actually... without my mermaid tail that's all I can still do! lol I can't even get underwater I am so buoyant- unless I'm wearing my mermaid tail.

I'm the same. Doggy paddle right up till last year and I'm in my 40s! I don't hate my buoyancy anymore. I've been using it as a way to get some air time when practicing my Fish Hop. Like Monofin Jump guy, I can do a little hop out of the water too!

[Mermaid Pickles]

Raina, I still sink like a rock. It's almost hilarious sometimes. The scuba people will be using sometimes up to twenty pounds and I need nothing. I can't float for the life of me. SHARE YOUR BUOYANCY WITH ME RAINA, PLEASE

I still hate swimming without my tail. I can tread and swim around without, but...you don't go anywhere!

I am surprisingly bad at doggie paddling. I can freestyle and swim on my side, but doggy paddling is out of the question. I can move pretty fast with only using my arms, though. Faster than some people using both legs and arms sometimes. XD

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Raina, I still sink like a rock. It's almost hilarious sometimes. The scuba people will be using sometimes up to twenty pounds and I need nothing. I can't float for the life of me. SHARE YOUR BUOYANCY WITH ME RAINA, PLEASE

I still hate swimming without my tail. I can tread and swim around without, but...you don't go anywhere!

I am surprisingly bad at doggie paddling. I can freestyle and swim on my side, but doggy paddling is out of the question. I can move pretty fast with only using my arms, though. Faster than some people using both legs and arms sometimes. XD

Maybe we have hollow bones... It takes me several tries to dive down to the bottom of the 2 m depth pool without any fin or tail on.

[Ashe]

The only issue I have is forgetting actually coming up for air. I'll be swimming around like no big deal but then I'll remember 'aw crap I'm not a fish, need air...'. But then that drives my body into instinctual panic mode. I may be just a foot or two away from the surface but my body will start to react as if it's some huge deal and I drive myself up to the surface as fast as I possibly can. This, of course, only leads to a waste of oxygen Wish I could just tell myself "Hey! No big deal, you have plenty of time to get to the surface!"
Ah, anyways I've never gotten anywhere near the point where it was actually critical, just a bit of a scare here and there.

[Mermaid Pickles]

I can just slip under in the deep end of the pool I swim at (which is 11 ft deep) and be at the bottom in seconds. The chlorine in that pool is so bad that I even got goggles. I never use goggles.

[Raayvhen]

I legitimately can't sink. Also when I'm out of a tail I can barely swim. I think it adds confidence. The trick is not becoming overconfident.

[Mermaid Alea]

I am not surprised that people are getting scared about mermaiding, but not because I agree with them. The reason this is not unexpected is that when people see something they are not familiar with, many times they only see the negative.

I am no stranger to seeing this kind of behavior (I'm a competitive shooter). It's called "moral panic," and it has been used to try to ban many things in the past (examples: certain drugs, switchblade, pit-bull, and even "Pokémon"). Moral panic happens because of two thoughts in the peoples minds. The first is that they do not understand it and for what ever reason they feel uncomfortable, disturbed, or fear it. The second thought needed is that they believe a law will make it all go away. We have all heard it before, "there outta be a law," as if it will make everything better. However, in these cases it mostly hurts those that were using them safely (I'm willing to bet most of us here practice the rules of safe swimming, and yet we would be the ones most penalized). In short, it punishes the innocent.

How I'm familiar with this is that when it comes to guns, there is no shortage of people who want them gone. What I've found out though is that the vast majority of people trying to ban guns have never fired one or tried to understand those who do. The same could be said for us mers (how many of these so called "experts" do you think have talked to the mer community let alone put on a tail themselves?). Yet these people feel they are the most qualified to make the decision as to whether or not people should have them. However, the best way to prove them wrong is to have them do it themselves. I have seen and heard of many people (both men and women) who were anti-gun, and scared to death of them, that were invited to a range (Most of them by family or friends after being talked into it). Some were as scared as a cat in a dog show before they even touched the gun. However, after their first shot, they were hooked and wanted more. Perhaps the same could be done with tails.

The truth is hitherto I have never heard of anyone drowning while wearing a tail, and I'm not surprised about that either. Regardless of the kids swimming capabilities, I think that parents are more likely to watch their children more closely if the kids are wearing tails, thus making any mishaps with tails more likely to not end in anything very serious.

However, there will always be those that believe they know better then you, when in reality, they know nothing, but don't let them get you down.

I agree too guns are a lot less scary when you know what it is like to shoot one. People don't even have to shoot a 'real' gun they can shoot with a BB gun or a paintball gun, etc to see that guns are not as bad as people make them out to be. I love the saying, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Anyways that reminds me I want to go paintballing again soooo badly!

Raina that is great that you might be able to bring up the tail swim ban during your interview.

It is unfortunate that sometimes the people who know nothing about something are the ones who get interviewed and believed when there are obviously people more in the know who are being ignored. I think one of the struggles in life is to not judge anyone or anything on first appearances, and to do your own research on a subject you don't understand rather than just make assumptions not based off of any real fact.

I liked what someone said about corsets - I never really saw them as negative, sure some people seem to overuse/misuse them, but generally I always wanted a corset to wear sometimes - I think they are purrrdy haha. It wasn't until recently that my friend told me she wears a corset to relive back pain. She said wearing a corset for an hour or less can alleviate her back pain and then I saw corsets as more than just something pretty to wear.

It is a shame that the opinions of a few can take away the right to tail swim for everyone.

Anyways, I like what finfun said I think they handled this situation well and I am done talking now because I feel like if I don't stop now I will get to rabbling on and on.

[AniaR]

I am giving an interview to CBC this morning about it to the original person who wrote the first article that went viral. I think she realized she made a lot of people mad haha.

Jamie also gave an EXCELLENT interview: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/...304348481.html

The actual news coverage is getting better. Once I add my article to the mix there will be 3 in retaliation to the claims. The issue is more the very ignorant comments sections on all the social media.

Apparently CNN also mentioned the issue but the link I was sent didn't work.

[Mermaid Alea]

Yay!!! Good luck Raina and Jamie did an excellent interview like you said. I think it was very positive and confirmed that as with any swimming, it can be dangerous but that the danger isn't that big of a deal as long as there is someone to supervise the kid or adult in the tail. On a side note Jamie's tail is really cool!

[PearlieMae]

I am giving an interview to CBC this morning about it to the original person who wrote the first article that went viral. I think she realized she made a lot of people mad haha.

Jamie also gave an EXCELLENT interview: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/...304348481.html

The actual news coverage is getting better. Once I add my article to the mix there will be 3 in retaliation to the claims. The issue is more the very ignorant comments sections on all the social media.

Apparently CNN also mentioned the issue but the link I was sent didn't work.

Post the link as soon as you can!

[Mermaid Menanna]

Yay Jamie! That was awesome! I especially love how they interviewed the rec facility director who explained that they simply take safety precautions and all is good. That is a HUGE message to all pools/rec facilities and affords us the argument, "if they can do it/are doing it without a problem, why can't you?" That is a giant leap forward and makes me so happy!
With any luck, by the time this is all said and done, maybe we can actually get many of the current bans lifted. Keep it up mers... this is the way to win such a battle! I have worried that with negative publicity it could influence insurance companies to deny coverage to places unless they ban tails/fins. That could really impact the situation and leave us without a real way to fight back. We need to keep up the positive momentum, keep talking about it, keep fighting back, keep educating the general public! This is a battle we can win!

[AniaR]

check out this little girl's interview:

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada...ID/2666989623/

[Mermaid Menanna]

I know we have a few lifeguards here on the forum, so I'm hoping one of them can answer this question. Why would it be so much more difficult to rescue someone in a swimming pool in a tail vs no tail?

[PearlieMae]

Great interviews! Jamie, I posted the link to yours on my Facebook page!

What a shame the interviewer with Alexis felt she had to dumb down her questions...but Alexis was awesome!

Great job, ladies!