After this weeks reading, in the Penguin Book of mermaids, I noticed the different types of representation of Mermaids in different cultures. I noticed this when reading about sirens versus mermaids, and how they used to be two different distinct creatures that now are sometimes meshed as one. Specifically I can see this difference when they were talking about how the British saw mermaids, and were compared sometimes to prostitutes and sexual symbols instead of monsters. Mermaids had anew definition of what it was to be feminine or sexual, instead of a monster, which what other cultures had seen them as. We can see this with the Greek, who saw them more as Sirens and monsters, who lured men to their death and demise with their song. When contrasting how these two different cultures saw Mermaids/Sirens, I can clearly see the distinction between monsters and humans. Mermaids innately are human-like, human upper body and fish tail, which is why they are seen as creatures. A lot of different cultures have different representations, but most of them are sexualized and objectified in some way. This was quite interesting to read about, and how Mermaids/Sirens are the same and different all at once. There are stories about Mermaids being tamed, mainly in British culture, where they have been more objectified as sex symbols than other cultures. They have been seen as monstrous and sexual at the same time. I found these different cultural representations of the Mermaid to be quite interesting, since I had only really seen the girlish version of the Mermaid, like in Emily Windsnap, which I read as a child, so seeing these more monstrous and sexual representations was quite a different perspective. This view on mermaids and how gender and sexuality comes into the perspective also was an interesting take, and how in different cultures some tired to “tame” mermaids, while some could not. Humans have always had a fascination with mermaids, but different cultures have different takes on this.

Kiersten Brown