Good question, I've been asked it before but I will admit the answer has changed as I'm always growing and evolving.
In my book I wrote about how this sort of situation is really circumstantial. I wrote about how one school took huge issue with my mermaid stuff and made me feel like absolute crap and a bad person, while another school posted a newpaper front page of me in my tail and shell top all over the place and bragged about it while I was teaching there. I try to handle things as a whole as opposed to obsessing about the individuals, and I think that better prepares you for if stuff does clash.
The thing is, with teaching specifically, teachers are held to a higher accountability than most professions. When other people screw up and get written about in the newspaper it wont say "so and so- a fast food worker- crashed his car into a light post" but if you're a teacher suddenly the article is "a note teacher crashed their car blah blah". Get the drift?
What worked for me in terms specifically of teaching, is meeting with the teachers union and finding out exactly what I can and can't do with my personal life as dictated by the school board code of ethics, and as defended by the teacher's union. The school board can fire you for "questionable photos" of which they do not define what that is. So I not only had to talk to the union about my mermaid stuff but my modelling and online presence as well. I can't lie to you and say just be yourself because you really can't. You have to always think how things will look down the line and to someone else. That being said, I take risks. Calculated ones. I think as long as you know you're taking a risk and the potential outcomes, that's good. It's when we just jump into something blindly without considering it.
I used to really worry about the mermaid costume being too sexy or whatever, and for my first few early gigs I work a tank top. Well I ditched that pretty fast and now I just make it known that mermaids are known to wear shell tops, I'm wearing a shell top! lol.
Every school where I've been now after that first bad experience I speak with the principal and let them know what I do. I don't even bring up being a mermaid in the classroom without their permission first, because being a mermaid aside, there is a rule about not advertising your own businesses in the classroom to your students. So that right there could nail me.
(for fun, here's my grade 5 class's reaction to finding out I am a mermaid on the last day of school....)
It's a balancing act, but it's easier now that I've gotten confidence about who I am, what I want to represent, and how I want to be portrayed. My website shows the value I place on education as a professional, and I have loads of media to back that up as well. It's all about continuing to validate what you do. Being a mermaid is pretty weird in the general population of the business world, so advocating for yourself on a routine basis should be normal. You get so used to it, you can counter most arguments after a while
In terms of being a professional in general, not just a teacher, I'd say find out what the rules are for your workplace and if you're scared, speak to your HR person to find out what you can do that wont put you in danger of losing your job. Canada is much more liberal than the USA so we can do a lot more. I did nude modelling for example, and the Teacher's union informed me that a load of teachers in my city have as well, when I asked them if it would cause problems for me. So I can't lose my job if someone tried to cause me problems, but also, we're pretty chill about nude art in Canada so if someone did try to make a big deal a big portion of people would simply roll their eyes. (seriously. A political leader tried to undermine another female political leader by finding a photo of her that hung in an art gallery, and it totally backfired for them) It seems to me that the USA really varies by state. So it's good to find out your work rules, and local protection laws etc.
I would also say don't attach all your stuff together. I go by AniaR on mernetwork because I don't want every single one of the 5000 posts I've made to come up out of order and out of context when someone is searching for my birthday party rates. I also don't register for anything other than business stuff using my business email. I pay close attention to what comes up when you google me, so things are always in context.
I also don't add many mermaids to my personal FB. I keep it separate from my mermaid one. It just helps
Finally, I think it's just a matter of remembering, anyone from your work, your clients, your boss, etc could view what you're doing on purpose or by accident. Could they understand the context right away? or would it need some explaining?
In all my years as a mermaid, modelling, being a musician, and performing I've only ever had 2 negative feedbacks. One was from that school that took issue with the mermaid thing- and that could have been totally avoided had I known my rights to begin with but I was a student teacher. The other was one single comment on facebook saying I looked too sexy for kids. lol. And sorry, but I'm not about to change myself for either of those things
doesn't mean I'm not open to change or refining how I do things, but you learn as you go.
Not sure if I gave you a good enough answer there I might need more specific examples, but hopefully it helps!
Originally Posted by AniaR
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