Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 90

Thread: Merfolk of Color

  1. #41
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Golden Pearl View Post
    I remember one of the last NON mer conventions I went to about 10 years ago, strangers I was being introduced to were making off the wall snarky comments to me.
    Hopefully, a mer convention is a friendlier place!
    Sadly, I'm not in the US. I'd be happy and honored to meet you

    By the way, I never realized you were of colour, with you being blonde and all.
    I know several people who have a black parent and a white one with blond hair, and they all look amazing,
    so those strangers were probably just being dicks.

  2. #42
    Caltuna you are such a sweet heart and I would LOVE to meet you too one day !

  3. #43
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    1,624
    Calypso, that is my favorite story of the day. Aww! <3

    Dark Tide Productions posted this on his Facebook page. Beautiful mer by Simon Eckert. I think she's my favorite yet.

    Name:  640x905_11275_Rising_Squid_2d_fantasy_mermaid_picture_image_digital_art.jpg
Views: 1545
Size:  135.2 KB

    So pretty.

    Personally, being native American (three tribes- two in one and one other- and a regional from below a modern man-made border) and Celtic, means no one ever knows what the hell I am. Mostly I don't mind. I'm a member of a tribe, my grandfather was Chief for many years, yet because I'm in SoCal (my enrolled tribe is currently in Oklahoma, but like most tribes there we were forced there, and not from there) and the tribes here have very different physical features, I'm often a surprise when at Pow Wows. I get, "You're Native?" because I look nothing like the tribes here. And when I'm at Euro-pagan events, celebrating my Celt heritage, I get, "You're Irish/Scots/etc.?" And my daughter, who's a member of our tribe, has curly red hair but dark brown eyes... who knows what it's going to be like for her. She's going to have a unique perspective, that's for sure.

    Either way, people get hung up on first physical impressions, when it's not in their usual paradigm. It's good that they can get a gentle jolt out of that myopic state- enlightens them.

    I don't get questions about race regarding mermaids. I get really much stupider questions because I love something (mermaids) that has a different diet than I follow, even though they're not real. People can be incredibly dense.
    Last edited by deepblue; 12-29-2013 at 02:43 PM.

  4. #44
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Seatan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Arlington, Texas
    Posts
    1,148
    Add Seatan on Facebook
    It IS sad that merfolk of color are so rarely portrayed, because it enhances the stereotype even within the race. When I was engaged to my AA fiancé (the one whose mother told him a white family could never love him like a black family and basically ended our engagement by saying she would disown him for marrying me) I heard a ton of racist remarks from BLACK people, things that as a white person born in the 80s had never even crossed my mind! One of those was "black people can't swim." Black people, especially older ones, would say this like it was absolutely true and that everyone knew it! I had never even heard that stereotype as a white person and the idea was LUDICROUS to me, but a TON of my black family in law to be believed it! There was also this weird stereotype that lighter skinned black people were more attractive than darker skinned black people, which had NEVER crossed my mind (I find AAs to be VERY attractive in general) but which everyone in that family seemed to believe! My fiancé was jealous of his lighter skinned brother when my fiancé was a billion times hotter! How are we supposed to end racism when some members of that very race believe more racial stereotypes than white people? I think the media's lack of portrayal of POC doing non stereotypical things is very much to blame. It is getting better, but it reeeeally makes me sad to hear POC believing and preaching these stereotypes to their children.
    Once upon a time I was known as Seavanna. Going by Seatan these days. I always wanted to be the high lord of underwater hell.

  5. #45
    Gosh Seavanna, I am so sorry your relationship was ended due to intolerance. And yes, intolerance exists in all races. The good thing that you mentioned is that being born in the 80s you had not espoused some of the heinous attitudes you had heard. That is GREAT! Maybe in the next generation even more of the alienation and bigotry will be eradicated. Also, maybe in the next generations people of all colors will be more equally represented in all facets of society. I have read that black actresses have a notoriously difficult time being cast in any roles. For some reason, the black males seem to be catered to more. Perhaps due to some sort of fetish of the day or something. So I do hope that there will be more equal representation across the board in the future generations. The sad thing is I will be dead or nearly dead by then having been born in the 60s. By there is always hope
    Last edited by Mermaid Oshun; 12-29-2013 at 02:24 PM.

  6. #46
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Eh, prejudices and racism is not something "white people" do to "people of colour".
    It's prevalent among any group of humans who differ from each other.
    I took quite my bit of share when I was living in China.
    Asian people used to be very prejudiced toward European looking people, they regarded them as ugly, unintelligent lesser beings.
    Nowadays, with all the globalisation and the younger generation trying to emulate the western lifestyle, that has thankfully changed, but I bet I'd get the same old treatment in more rural regions and from older people.

    Quote Originally Posted by Seavanna View Post
    There was also this weird stereotype that lighter skinned black people were more attractive than darker skinned black people, which had NEVER crossed my mind (I find AAs to be VERY attractive in general) but which everyone in that family seemed to believe! My fiancé was jealous of his lighter skinned brother when my fiancé was a billion times hotter!
    This is not a weird stereotype so much as something evolution has ingrained in humans.
    Back when genes mattered, one of the things most needed for survival was good health.
    A pristine skin (just as nice long hair) was an indicator of that.
    The lighter the skin tone, the easier it is to spot any irregularities, therefore our ancestors tended to choose partners with the lightest possible skin to ensure they weren't fooled about its healthy look.

    I could easily see that for myself when I had a picture of me which had been taken in bad light, it looked fantabulous.
    Then I made it brighter to look more natural, and bam, bad skin, wrinkles and lines in the face, and other things I'd rather have stay hidden
    So having a lighter skin can be a biiig disadvantage.

  7. #47
    Caltuna I lived in Thailand for over a month. When I say lived I mean I was not in a tourist area, I lived with the locals. I did everything the locals did. I must say I felt nothing but love while I was there. It was a harsh reality like a slap in the face to come back to the US and hear the snarls and hateful energy exuded at the airport. It was like WOooo! I had not seen that snarkiness and mean spiritedness in going on 2 months! Seeing it again as I arrived back in the US was HARSH!
    I also lived in Mexico for a while on several occassions. I was treated like family and embraced with nothing but love. Coming back to the US after each of my stays in Mexico felt like a similar slap in the face of uncalled for harsh hatred and anger.
    So I am SO SO SORRY that you had a bad experience in China. I visited The Peoples Republic of China and Taiwan Taipei too. All of them were like spiritual experiences everything was so positive. I also saw the Asians bending over backwards to be nice to Europeans. In fact there is a LARGE population of expats from Denmark and other European countries in Thailand because they are so nice to Europeans. In fact ALL the Europeans I met while in Asia told me that the Asians were the sweetest and gentlest people they had ever met in their entire life!! They claimed this was a big part of the reason they moved there. In agreement with what you said though, I did hear from a Black woman who LOOKS Black that when she was in Asia they treated her like a circus freak because they were not used to seeing that look before. So I guess everyone's experience will always be different. But for me I must thank GOD and the Goddesses that my experiences abroad have always felt like nothing less than spiritual retreats
    Last edited by Mermaid Oshun; 12-30-2013 at 12:40 PM.

  8. #48
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    Oh, I didn't mean to say everyone was like that.
    There's always nice people and less nice people everywhere

    I agree that many cultures feel more welcoming than the "white" ones- Mexico and Thailand are good examples-,
    in fact, I never felt quite at home in Europe.
    My experiences in China might have been different though because I'm partly chinese myself but don't look it.
    Meaning that even when people smiled to my face and appeared respectful, I understood what they said to each other about me

    I quickly developed the habit to tell everyone I met at once that I speak their dialect, just so I wouldn't have to listen to the terms Europeans are usually given (ugly white devil from overseas is one of the nicest phrasings I've come across).

    Back then, I was still young and trying to cope with my scrambled heritage.
    I was in behaviour and speech more chinese than many locals and wanted nothing more than to fit in, but it was impossible due to the way I look.
    And then there's also the fact that people with mixed origins are always regarded lowly because everyone assumes they must be illegitimate somehow

    Oh, one more thing!
    Taiwanese people usually aren't stuck-up like that, but very friendly and open.
    I think that's because they're more modern and deal with all kind of peoples from all over the world.

    At any rate, if humans as a whole ever wish to pass to the next, truly global stage, all sorts of intolerance and racism has to go first.
    Maybe we'll even see it, but I wouldn't hold my breath

  9. #49
    I could not possibly agree more with everything you said . Very insightful. And you are right mixed folk are not embraced well by either of their parts. It's kind of sad
    But I have confidence we as a human species will pass to our next plateau of spiritual development ...eventually.
    Last edited by Mermaid Oshun; 12-30-2013 at 03:55 PM.

  10. #50
    Senior Member Chesapeake Pod Fun123joker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Washington DC/ Norfolk
    Posts
    622

    Follow Fun123joker on Tumblr
    Quote Originally Posted by LittlePolly View Post
    In the Disney series of the little mermaid there was a colored mermaid with a pink tail and she was deaf. She had an Octopus that translated her deaf talk. Is this the one you meant Psychic Tideborn ?


    Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met behulp van Tapatalk
    i remeber the little mermaid series. the only strange thing i find about it is that that is the only episode i remember


    gif. from Free! Eternal summer ending
    ・゚: *✧・゚:* \(◕ω◕✿)/ *:・゚✧*:・゚✧

  11. #51
    Senior Member Pod of Oceania Mermaid Jaffa's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Silverwater, NSW Australia
    Posts
    4,806
    Add Mermaid Jaffa on Facebook
    Visit Mermaid Jaffa's Youtube Channel
    I'm Chinese. Does that make me a colored mermaid?

  12. #52
    Your the best. You are a hero

  13. #53
    This is a great thread! As mers we represent the harmonious blending of two very different beings - human and fish. We embrace and celebrate those differences, and also the way they come together. If only the human species as a whole could behave the same way. To me diversity is what makes life on earth interesting! I think we as a community can help shape the public's perception of what a mer is and does and looks like. Just as our tails are all unique and colorful and beautiful in their diversity, all the different shapes, skin colors, gender preferences, and even ages of merpeople in this community are unique and beautiful and valuable. Getting out there in public, and being strong, confident mers - whatever we look like - will help change the stereotypical image of "mermaid = young, white, long-haired, sex toy" to something more enlightened, accepting, and evolved. And maybe give just a little nudge to help people take a more enlightened, accepting, and evolved view of their fellow humans, too.

    Mermaid Galene (pronounced Guh-LEE-nee)



    Mermaid Galene WebNeptune's Keep WebFacebookMG YouTubeNK YouTubeEtsy Shop

    Neptune's Keep makes music with fish. Fish have hidden depths!


  14. #54
    Don't know if this was counts or not, but in Once Upon A Time (season 3, episode "Ariel") *spoiler alert* the REAL Ursula was portrayed by a black woman.. And Regina (the evil queen from snow white) tricked Ariel into believing she was Ursula, and she was Latina, so there's that Also, Cicily Daniels understudied as Ursula in the Broadway production of the little mermaid.
    As a black male, I too wish to see more people of color in the merworld

  15. #55
    I do think there should be more colored mermfolk in media, but I just want to point out one reason why there probably isn't a whole lot:
    *PLEASE DON'T HARPOON ME, JUST POSING A THOUGHT*
    Merfolk are naturally underwater creatures, and when you think about them you picture a castle on the ocean floor. But everything that can reach that far down is colorless due to the fact that there isn't any sunlight available to provide any sort of pigmentation. So, just an idea, but maybe merfolk in general weren't always portrayed as much other than "Caucasian" because of their location and how genetics would have played out for them. Honestly, even white people have more color than what an actual merperson would have been, according to lore and geography, that is. I honestly think true merfolk would be albino and completely devoid of any pigmentation whatsoever since they would be dwelling mostly underwater where the sunlight doesn't penetrate very deep (think of it, when water gets deep enough, light starts to fade). Plus, from what I gather the popular merfolk lore mainly starts with Greek Sirens, and based on geography they were Caucasian, so naturally they'd post their mystical beings as looking just like them (especially since they were seen as beautiful temptresses, and *no offense* what they probably saw as beautiful back then were the staple white blonde woman).
    I did just find out, though (I literally just did a quick google search just for you guys), that the earliest documented mermaid was from Assyria, when an Assyrian goddess (Atargatis) accidentally killed a shepherd she fell in love with and she became so upset about it that she threw herself into a lake and became a fish. However, she eventually became half human half fish since the "waters could not hide her devine beauty". So, in respect, the first documented mermaid was actually of color, since she was Assyrian. More specifically, she was middle eastern (I'm guessing that's right. I googled where Assyria was and saw it was near Egypt, so..). Hope you guys found this as interesting as I did.
    But my thoughts aside and possible explanation done, I think there should definitely be more colored merfolk in media! I never thought of it before, but that would totally be a cool thing.
    Sorry if this was covered before, I'm getting tired and I didn't feel like reading every single post to make sure.
    (P.S. here's the link to where I found the "first documented mermaid" lore, if you were wondering: https://sites.google.com/site/quarte...y-of-mythology

  16. #56
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    3,574
    Add Echidna on Facebook
    Visit Echidna's Youtube Channel
    ^^yep, we discussed that somewhere, ages ago.
    Pigmentation in humans (or in the upper body of half-humans, if you will) occurs due to UV radiation, so in a water-dwelling human hybrid, would most likely be absent.

    However, every country has their own mermaid image, realistic or not.
    As these images vary so widely, I doubt they share an origin.

    Classical European waterspirits, for example, are ghostly pale, sometimes with a greenish or blueish hue, and have long, floating/kelp-like hair that's mostly blonde, white, green, or black.
    Most of the time, they don't have a fish tail.
    If they do, the tail is that of a snake more often than a caudal fin.

    I'd really like to see more variety in merfolk depictions, as there are so many kinds.
    It's boring when everyone goes with the Disney approach.

  17. #57
    Senior Member Chesapeake Pod Fun123joker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Washington DC/ Norfolk
    Posts
    622

    Follow Fun123joker on Tumblr
    actually im suprised that we see more white mermaids. because water reflects the sun light so you would thing that mermaids closer to the surface would be more darker.


    gif. from Free! Eternal summer ending
    ・゚: *✧・゚:* \(◕ω◕✿)/ *:・゚✧*:・゚✧

  18. #58
    I think you only have to look at the amazing range of colors and patterns in fish and cetaceans to discount the "everything underwater is pale" theory.

    Mermaid Galene (pronounced Guh-LEE-nee)



    Mermaid Galene WebNeptune's Keep WebFacebookMG YouTubeNK YouTubeEtsy Shop

    Neptune's Keep makes music with fish. Fish have hidden depths!


  19. #59
    Senior Member North Pacific Pod Meilyn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Seattle, Washington, United States
    Posts
    346
    Follow Meilyn On Twitter Add Meilyn on Facebook
    Follow Meilyn on Tumblr
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Galene View Post
    I think you only have to look at the amazing range of colors and patterns in fish and cetaceans to discount the "everything underwater is pale" theory.
    I second this. And it's more so genetics than uv radiation I assume. For us "colored" people hehe. Some (Asians) people from Thailand, and it's super hot and sunny there all the dam time, are translucent white. Take my little sister for example. She was hailed as a mini Goddess when she was younger due to her skin color and bright eyes. I used to be 7 shades darker says family myths, and I wasn't very loved due to my birth color LOL. I laugh at it now.

  20. #60
    Quote Originally Posted by caltuna View Post
    This is not a weird stereotype so much as something evolution has ingrained in humans.
    Back when genes mattered, one of the things most needed for survival was good health.
    A pristine skin (just as nice long hair) was an indicator of that.
    The lighter the skin tone, the easier it is to spot any irregularities, therefore our ancestors tended to choose partners with the lightest possible skin to ensure they weren't fooled about its healthy look.

    I could easily see that for myself when I had a picture of me which had been taken in bad light, it looked fantabulous.
    Then I made it brighter to look more natural, and bam, bad skin, wrinkles and lines in the face, and other things I'd rather have stay hidden
    So having a lighter skin can be a biiig disadvantage.
    I know this is old, but I'm just going to revive this since I didn't see it before, but this is totally wrong haha. The reason why light skinned black people are seen as more attractive than darker skinned black people is because of something called the paper bag test. The paper bag test is used to see if your skin is desirable. If you're lighter than or equal to the bag, you're good if not, then well, I'm sure you can guess.
    The whole light skin vs. dark skin thing is from the slave era when light skinned africans were considered good enough to be house slaves and weren't put in the fields because they were considered closer to being white.
    Systematic oppression and prejudice and colorism is to blame for light skinned black people being more attractive, not evolution.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •