Under her mer name of ‘Cyanea’, she earns a living running mermaid workshops and creates majestic silicone tails. But for her – and many more of her kind – it is more than a tail: it is part of her and she refers to it as a ‘prosthetic limb’.
She said: ‘I do feel like my tail is a part of me, and I do actually feel like it is a prosthetic limb.
‘I sometimes joke that I wear a prosthetic because I was born with a terrible birth defect – which is legs.
‘When my tail is off I feel a little bit awkward. Suddenly I have legs and I don’t know what to do with them. I feel extremely clumsy.’
Once she slides her tail on and becomes Mermaid Essie, she says her worries disappear and the magical feeling of invincibility and power arises.
The 24-year-old said: ‘I have a lot of body insecurities, I think a lot of people do. When I am in my tail I don’t feel insecure anymore. Because it suddenly doesn’t matter what size I am because I am a mermaid and that is what people really focus on.
‘When I take my tail off it almost feels like a piece of me has come off, that I am in a weird limbo. It’s very vulnerable feeling. It is an odd feeling for sure.
When I’m in the water with my tail on, it’s just like magic.
Ed – whose mer-name is Mahtlinnie – identifies as being a non-binary, asexual person but becoming a merperson has helped the Disney fan come terms with their sexuality and the social anxiety it caused.
Ed said: ‘The best part of being a merperson is the chance to live out a dream or fantasy that a lot of people, especially kids, have. You know you can put on a costume and become a magical creature and be something other than who you are for a little while.
‘I’m still being me but I’m being more of myself than I might feel comfortable with just in my day-to-day life.’
Like Caitlin, Ed was inspired by the idea of becoming a merperson as a child, particularly after watching the Disney film The Thirteenth Year.
There is a growing community across America of people who identify as ‘mer’ and spend their time donning elaborately decorated silicone tails that can cost up to $3,500 and take a year to make, swim in the sea and swimming pools and attend mer-conventions across the U.S.
This group of ‘professional’ mermaids converge on Mernetwork, a forum for the merfolk to discuss their new ventures and plan such conventions.
Last year hundreds of people from around the world gathered in Greensboro, North Carolina for the world’s largest MerMania convention where they spent hours in an Olympic-sized pool, while sporting embellished handmade fins and tails and makeup.
ht/ FDR in Hell
These are the sort of people who give
REAL mermaids a bad name!!!
http://weekiwachee.com/
This story sickens me to the core. Our daughter was born with Mermaid Syndrome (Caudal Regression Syndrome) and only survived a short while. Let me tell you, I am not offended by these people I just wish they could be dead.
Except real “mer-people” can’t drown. These poor saps aren’t so far gone that they don’t think they need to breathe air, are they?
Maybe Disney films need to be banned as detrimental to the mental health of modern snow-flakes.
THIS JUST BLEW MY MERMAID FANTASY OUT OF THE WATER!!
Which restroom do they use?
Ha, Maybe a Manatee. Cows of the ocean. Those heifers could displace some water.
And what special rights do they feel entitled to? Should the government now add ‘reconstructive tail surgery’ to the 100s of pages ObamaCare covers? WTH is a non-binary a-sexual person?!
Seems harmless enough at first glance.
Hard for them to get into political mischief wearing a tail in their parents’ pool.
Those are not mermaids, those are manatees.
About as legit as my mermaid hunting license.
I’ve got enough space on the wall for mounting one or two of them.
Dadof4
Obviously you’ve never actually tried to mount a Mermaid. You need to do it from the front. That dorsal fin will tear your ass up.
Oh gosh, Corky, I’m so sorry to hear that.
If they spent about a day or two in water, would they figure out they’re not really mermaids when their skin fell off and floated away?
Who takes care of all of their cats?
Maybe I’m missing something here? First I’m amazed anyone could swim in the frigid waters around Seattle without a wet suit on. Second, this looks like a skill few people could do. I certainly can’t hold my breath under water and I can barely do more than a dog paddle or a semi-frog maneuver. This looks like a very hard exercise workout.
How is this different from hanging out with your friends at the bar? At a Poker game? On a tennis court? Being in a movie or on Broadway? How is it different than being an artist and sitting in the woods painting? This sounds like a hobby. I don’t think they really think they are mermaids. They just enjoy the comaraderie with like friends and a skill few have or want to try.
Like I said, maybe I’m missing something here. At least they are doing something that is not hurting anyone else. If they have the money to make themselves fin or tail, what in the world is wrong with that? They’re not making anyone else do it. And no, I wouldn’t do it.
Looks like better birth control than am aspirin between the knees
Looks like better birth control than am aspirin between the knees
Tuesday,
If we were to come up with one of those $3,000.00 tails would you try it? And can we film it.
Half human, half fish and 100% loony.
Bad_Brad,
No, I already told you I can’t hold my breath under or above water and after three tries at Beginners classes as a kid, I STILL couldn’t pass. I do not have swimming genes. Maybe that’s why they impressed me a little. lol
Dang it.
They had a little MLKJ Day dustup in Miami, too.
wut oops wrong thread
Tuesday.
You should try the breast stroke. That way you don”t need to put your head under water.
BB–all of my swimming (if you can call it that) is done with my head above water. 😉
I’m convinced the largest people on Earth are women.
And the fastest driver on the road is a woman.
Probably the ugliest is a woman.
And so on.
I’m just sayin’, not hatin’.. feminism has run the full course.
Tuesday, LOL, this could be such a fun conversation, but I’ll stop now.
Well, on the plus side.
The crazy ones are great in the sack.
“Hey lefty. I identify as a conservative. You gonna tell me I’m wrong?”
Would it be mean for me to call them “Merpigs”?
Ann Thracts,
How’s your swimming ability?
“When my tail is off I feel a little bit awkward. Suddenly I have legs and I don’t know what to do with them.”
I’ve got a suggestion: wrap them around the nearest male Life Guard. 🙂
@ Brad
My specialty is Doggie-style Paddle.
Carp.
Ann Thracts, you bad girl, that requires excellent timing in the water. Lots of dry runs, I mean practice. Call me.
Man, and I thought “Furries” were bad…
Men doing this is what bothers me the most.
Mermaids are for girls.
“Honey, do these fins make my hips look big?”
BTW Ann, what’s -your- dry weight? 😉
Shhh Sylvia.
I don’t want to burst Brad’s fantasy bubble.
Jeez, it’s starting to sound like I’d be banging it around in a dinner bell. Now I’m scaret.
Sylvia, how is she up top?
Damn, just as bad as those weirdo brony
freeks.
@ Brad
Do you have an empty Coke can handy?
Tuesday,
Did you read the comments from these people?
They don’t feel right when they aren’t in their outfits.
One woman doesn’t know what to do with her legs.
One has body dysmorphia and only feels right as a mermaid.
It’s a hobby much like how gender fluidity is a hobby.
Collecting Shirley Temple dolls is a hobby.
Grown men dressing like Shirley Temple, talking like Shirley Temple and feeling better about their anxieties when they become Shirley Temple, is a mental illness.
Reminds me of back in the day when I wondered into a bar down in Long Beach. I’m slamming down a beer and in walks this big guy with a tiny little head. So we start talking and finally I had to ask him “Dude, what’s up with your tiny little head?” Well he was quite for a minute and finally he spoke. He was jogging down the beach and found a Mermaid beached and far away from the water. Near death. He picked her up and carried her back into the ocean. After several minutes she was revived. She swam back to the beach and said “You’ve saved my life, I can grant you one wish” . He says, “Well you a fine looking woman. How about some sex?” She says”Well, as you can see, below my waste I’m a fish, so sex is not possible.” So he says “How about a little head?”
Whew, you took the long way home with that one, Brad. 🙂
BFH,
I did read the comments – in the story and here. And I am very sorry there are birth defects. I wish there were none. I also wish there was no mental illness in people. I really do. I do wish the guy did not wear make-up and swim like a girl mermaid. I wish the girls/women felt better about their physical appearance.
But I guess I chose to see the bright side – that they have a skill, that they enjoy it and that they aren’t hurting anyone. That’s all.
Blowfish
I thought mermaids were supposed to be nude on top.