Has anyone actually WATCHED this video before ??

[Echidna]

I've seen a short excerpt of this ages ago.
I always thought this WAS a parody

ya know, making fun of "bootcamp TV" in a mermaid setting. lol

[Mermaid Melusine]

I had seen some of her videos she posted to youtube a while back of her appearances at children's parties. She seems like a completely different person in this!

[Madison MerFaerie]

I sorta want to figure out how to join her team so I can talk shit 100% of the time.

I had this exact thought after watching the video! Momo, the world is lucky we live so far apart. We'd be nothing but trouble if our paths ever crossed.

[Saren]

I've seen the idea during the time I first started researching mermaiding and was binge watching everything. Melissa's website is where I got my first information.

From what you said Raina, I'm crushed. I thought she was really cool like Hannah or Kariel, but I was just basing it off of social media. I guess things aren't always as they seem.

I just thought she was showing tough love to her team. My mentors were like this when I worked as a Vet Tech in Hawaii. I just figured in any environment where your in charge of a team, as the leader you have to be tough so your team have something solid to aspire to.

So is this really not how it is?

[AniaR]

I've seen the idea during the time I first started researching mermaiding and was binge watching everything. Melissa's website is where I got my first information.

From what you said Raina, I'm crushed. I thought she was really cool like Hannah or Kariel, but I was just basing it off of social media. I guess things aren't always as they seem.

I just thought she was showing tough love to her team. My mentors were like this when I worked as a Vet Tech in Hawaii. I just figured in any environment where your in charge of a team, as the leader you have to be tough so your team have something solid to aspire to.

So is this really not how it is?

Melissa is a lot like mertailor. They both believe they can be famous, not just mermaid famous, but famous. So everything online is tailored that way
there's been lots of issues with her aside from my own personal ones, with the community. I think naming herself the best mermaid in the world pissed a lot of people off lol. Stealing photos
She often tags herself with other people's names/company names if they get in the media.
Remember the time she edited the mermaiding wikipedia page to be all about her, AND then the few things she left in about hannah she changed the citations so they went to her website?
Or the "save all creatures" while she drives a hummer and doesn't do a single charity gig or advocacy work... lol

Melissa is cut throat, has multiple faces she shows the world, and really just has one agenda.

But I don't worry about the "world's best mermaid". People have to wade through 1000's of animal photos just to find her stuff, and I know mermaids who have been hired from venues who fired Melissa lol or didnt hire her back because she wasnt impressed. Melissa has done some cool things but if you actually look it's a lot of the same photos being shared over and over to make it look like new stuff.

I dont think she does anything for the image of the mer community at large. I'd hate for someone to see this video and think this is what we're like.

[Starfrit]

I've never been able to sit through a single one of Melissa's videos... Like, every single one of them always comes off as being so fake, self-absorbed, and cringeworthy. I have a hard time watching them without feeling secondhand embarrassment, tbh. Even when I used to follow her FB page as a supporter when I first dove into the mercommunity, something was always really off about her.

[PearlieMae]

Carrying your tail, parading around a pool deck barefoot or in flip flops is oh so safe.

Boot camp/reality show FAIL.

[AniaR]

I just feel worried for all the kids in the comments thinking this is acceptable.

[Mermaid Julianne]

I just feel worried for all the kids in the comments thinking this is acceptable.

Not only thinking its acceptable, but thinking that you HAVE to do "training" like this to become a professional mermaid. I mean come on, this is ridiculous.

She may not like working with kids, but to be honest they probably make up the majority of her subscribers on Youtube. Putting that kind of self image out there for kids to see, and for them to think its okay its just totally wrong.

And in her replies on comments saying how ridiculous this is, she literally responds with "watch shows like Dance Moms or trainers on shows like Jillian Michaels." These shows are purposely shot to give the impression that hard work gets you good results. And I'm not saying it can't, because if you can do it in a healthy way, good for you. But I know for a fact that people have left The Biggest Loser malnourished, physically injured, and even hospitalized. Jillian Michaels even left the show because of how poor contestants were treated.

Anyways, back to the point. If this kind of workout is the basis of her program, its pretty clear she didn't do any research. Mimicking the behavior of trainers on tv won't make you a good trainer. Seriously, reality tv is one of the most unrealistic things you can watch on tv.

[Ariel-Starfish]

Like i said before... She's such a diva

[Mermaid Melusine]

That's really sad. It's also kinda obnoxious to say that you're the best mermaid. who gets to decide something like that? I really hope this doesn't turn into the same monster as the cosplay community where everyone is an elitist, scaring off new people who don't have the skills or the money from the get go but still have as much right to be in the community as anyone else. So what if she got to do some cool stuff for money in a fancy full silicone tail? Honestly, who is to say she is any "better" than just a kid at home with a fabric tail who nobody has ever heard of? Everyone starts somewhere.

[AniaR]

That's really sad. It's also kinda obnoxious to say that you're the best mermaid. who gets to decide something like that? I really hope this doesn't turn into the same monster as the cosplay community where everyone is an elitist, scaring off new people who don't have the skills or the money from the get go but still have as much right to be in the community as anyone else. So what if she got to do some cool stuff for money in a fancy full silicone tail? Honestly, who is to say she is any "better" than just a kid at home with a fabric tail who nobody has ever heard of? Everyone starts somewhere.

sadly I think we're already there

[MermaidDalni]

Ohhh man I'd never seen that video but I always wondered why she was never with other mers or at conventions. But if she's like the Mertailor can be I can see why

[AniaR]

My main issues with this video

1. Obviously, it's demeaning to talk to her staff that way. "bootcamp" or not. This isn't the army. it's mermaid swimming. I think mermaids have a hard enough time being taken seriously as professionals, things like this don't help

2. She markets her youtube to children, and as you can see in the comments they are very easily influenced by her. As a child development specialists with degrees in both child and youth development, education, early childhood education, and special education, it upsets me that someone trying to portray them self as a "role model" for both mermaids and kids would think something like this is appropriate. It shows kids that it's OK to be spoken to like this if it's got to do with your dream of wanting to be a mermaid. And kids are young and impressionable. Studies show they can take that message and confuse it for other situations, messing with their boundaries and sense of right and wrong

3. Owning an award winning company now for 8 years, having published two books, and being consulted as an industry leader for multiple training sessions, mermaid conventions, and more, I professionally disagree that there is any value to carrying your mermaid tail 50 times around a pool. In fact, I think it sets a bad precedent, and puts people at risk of injury. There are many ways to learn how to carry something long distances without being screamed out, disrespected, exploited for youtube views, or put at risk of falling on a slippery pool deck.

4. As someone who has shaped the mermaid community, i'm not OK with the kind of message this sends community members, kids, or clients. I believe it's yet another item added to the long list of problems Melissa has created for the community in her journey to be "world's best".

I feel when people make excuses and defend this type of behaviour, they are not helping the community. When we do nothing, we empower this person who is doing the bad thing.

[Mermaid Melusine]

I can see why that behavior does need to be addressed rather than swept under the rug. When I was newer to all of this, some of what she was saying was very discouraging. To me, what she was saying made it feel like all of this was just as difficult as growing set of gills and that I shouldn't even try because of that.

Mermaiding is something people do for fun, to make the world a more magical place. Why shouldn't I be allowed to enjoy something I'm in to, just because one person does this or that? The elitism that i've seen in the cosplay community stems from similar attitudes being allowed to grow. I used to think, "wow I can't hold my breath for as long as melissa! I'll never be a decent mermaid," .. etc. The emphasis she put on some things was unnecessary and put too much pressure on something that is for most of us, a hobby.

However, there have been so many others that I've seen that are encouraging to new merfolk, and want to build them up with as many assets as they can give them. These are the kind of people who love this subculture so much they show just as much respect to a new mermaid with a cheap tail and no reputation as they would an older mermaid with a really expensive one who does it professionally. That is the type of person I look up to, and want to be myself, bonding over cute seashell bras we find on someone's etsy page or squealing about how well their home made one is coming out... getting hype over mermaids in a 20 second scene in a movie... going on and on about how we could coordinate casual mermaid outfits for every day life... sharing tail designs... just being positive and bonding over this mutual enthusiasm.

When it comes down to it, you can't win at being the best mermaid. Chasing something like that turns you into a condescending person, and you'll never be happy living a life of comparison. We're just a bunch of dorks with fish butts trying to have a good time geeking out with the same shared enthusiasm. I have much more respect for those who would rather bond with me over something than someone who has to make it a competition or a popularity contest IMO.

[Saren]

Melissa is a lot like mertailor. They both believe they can be famous, not just mermaid famous, but famous. So everything online is tailored that way
there's been lots of issues with her aside from my own personal ones, with the community. I think naming herself the best mermaid in the world pissed a lot of people off lol. Stealing photos
She often tags herself with other people's names/company names if they get in the media.
Remember the time she edited the mermaiding wikipedia page to be all about her, AND then the few things she left in about hannah she changed the citations so they went to her website?
Or the "save all creatures" while she drives a hummer and doesn't do a single charity gig or advocacy work... lol

Melissa is cut throat, has multiple faces she shows the world, and really just has one agenda.

But I don't worry about the "world's best mermaid". People have to wade through 1000's of animal photos just to find her stuff, and I know mermaids who have been hired from venues who fired Melissa lol or didnt hire her back because she wasnt impressed. Melissa has done some cool things but if you actually look it's a lot of the same photos being shared over and over to make it look like new stuff.

I dont think she does anything for the image of the mer community at large. I'd hate for someone to see this video and think this is what we're like.

I read through the threads you linked. I'm just shocked. Kariel was my first view into mermaiding and Melissa was my information springboard.

I know it's stupid to compare but I feel like a kid who's been told Santa doesn't really exist. I mean this isn't the first time going through the forums has shed light on the truth about various mers I've respected, but this is just a big blow for me.

Her message about animals was something I thought I could stand behind. Now to learn all these things?

All I can say Raina is thank you for your transparency. While the truth can be jarring, in the end it's necessary

[PhaylennMurúch]

sooo... pointing out that the act of carrying one's tail over ones shoulder doesn't work the same muscles as say, hauling one's tail clad rear end out of a pool, hauling one's friend out of a pool or even carrying someone from here to there is being rude?

hardly

going BSC over people disagreeing with you and calling people names (personal attacks much?) is rude

[Mermaid_Sarina]

That video exactly is the reason I unsubscribed from her! When I first joined I thought she was great at swimming but over and over I just kept realising how stuck up and ridiculous her behaviour is. I'm glad I've been able to see this too! Really helped me sort out how I feel about her!

[Merman Andrew]

Mermaiding is something people do for fun, to make the world a more magical place. Why shouldn't I be allowed to enjoy something I'm in to, just because one person does this or that? The elitism that i've seen in the cosplay community stems from similar attitudes being allowed to grow. I used to think, "wow I can't hold my breath for as long as melissa! I'll never be a decent mermaid," .. etc. The emphasis she put on some things was unnecessary and put too much pressure on something that is for most of us, a hobby.

However, there have been so many others that I've seen that are encouraging to new merfolk, and want to build them up with as many assets as they can give them. These are the kind of people who love this subculture so much they show just as much respect to a new mermaid with a cheap tail and no reputation as they would an older mermaid with a really expensive one who does it professionally. That is the type of person I look up to, and want to be myself, bonding over cute seashell bras we find on someone's etsy page or squealing about how well their home made one is coming out... getting hype over mermaids in a 20 second scene in a movie... going on and on about how we could coordinate casual mermaid outfits for every day life... sharing tail designs... just being positive and bonding over this mutual enthusiasm.

When it comes down to it, you can't win at being the best mermaid. Chasing something like that turns you into a condescending person, and you'll never be happy living a life of comparison. We're just a bunch of dorks with fish butts trying to have a good time geeking out with the same shared enthusiasm. I have much more respect for those who would rather bond with me over something than someone who has to make it a competition or a popularity contest IMO.

I absolutely love what you had to say on this Mermaid Melusine and I 100% agree!

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Melusine]

aw shucks that means a lot