Disney’s live-action filmThe little Mermaid arrived in September arrived in September on its streaming platform. Since its announcement last year, the film, starring Grammy Award-winning artist Halle Bailey, has received widespread negative feedback regarding the casting of her, a young black woman, as the character principal, Ariel. Many lamented and screamed that casting an initially animated black star as a red-haired white woman was ridiculous. From the hashtag #NotMyAriel to discussions using pseudo-science to explain the improbability of a black mermaid, the reaction from Bailey’s casting has been extreme, even uncomfortable. Although the film draws inspiration from his 1989 film, based on the works of a 19th-century Danish writer, it must be remembered that the figure of the mermaid is not limited to one culture, race, or ethnic group. Instead, they symbolize our collective stories and our diverse perspectives.
Mermaids have captivated civilizations since the dawn of time. The first digit recorded was Atargartis, a half-human, half-fish goddess worshiped by the ancient Sumerians, who represented fertility and embodied the dual nature of water: life-giving and destructive. Like many earlier deities, Atagartis would be identified and praised under other names and forms, from ancient Greece (Aphrodite) to Rome (Venus).
Across Asia, mermaids also appear in many myths and folklore. In India, Nagini were sensual creatures associated with protection and fertility, on par with their Sumerian, Greco-Roman, and other Western equivalents. Several stories emerge from Chinese sources: Shan Hai Jing from the 4th century BCE recalls the lingyu have a human face with a fish body. These four-legged creatures could resurrect themselves and make a sound similar to crying babies. Feng Yi, on the other hand, was the half-human, half-fish god of the Yellow River. Interestingly, a famous novel from the Qing dynasty has a similar tone to the Disney plot: Liao Zhai Zhi Yi tells the story of an adorable mermaid named Bai Qiulian who becomes human to marry the son of a businessman.
In the West African region of Yorubaland, Yemọja holds significant cultural and spiritual significance as the queen of the Orishas (spirits). Depicted as a mermaid, she has dominion over all forms of water, women and children. Like Atargartis, Yemọja has taken on different names and identities – but unfortunately, through chains. The convergence of African, indigenous, and European cultural identities via the transatlantic slave trade preserved the figure of the mermaid through stories and religion in the Caribbean. Yemọja became the Catholic Our Lady of the Navigators; in the syncretic beliefs that emerged from this region – Santeria, Haitian Vodou, Candomblé and Umbanda – she was called Yemanja, Mami Wata, Yemaya and The Mermaid. To this day, Yemọja remains a popular figure in the diaspora, with important festivals dedicated to him in Latin America and the Caribbean. Writing as an Afro-Caribbean trans woman, Yemọja also remains as much a personal source of inspiration and hope as she is a guardian of the disenfranchised and marginalized.
The figure of the mermaid transcended geographic and cultural boundaries in these tales, assuming many identities. It is a testament to the universality of our shared human experience. By rethinking the story around The little Mermaid, perhaps this is an opportunity to revisit the norms surrounding other issues such as sexuality and gender. The film itself focuses on a character who, despite being assigned a particular life and set of rules, desires to break free from them and find a life full of love, freedom and authenticity – something that resonates with many people around the world. LGBTQ+ community.
The expansive nature of mermaids – protective, seductive, evil or benevolent – can give us a canvas for the spectrum of gender and sexual identities. By examining the figure of the mermaid and folklore, we can move beyond binary notions of gender and sexuality and open the door to a broader, more nuanced – dare I say, fluid – understanding of the human experience.
Whether we read folktales or (re)watch the latest film, let us not narrow our perspectives on the figure of the mermaid and, equally, our narrow definitions of race, culture, gender or sexuality. Instead, let’s appreciate the rich and diverse history of mermaids and how it ties together the even richer tapestry of humanity, encompassing the unique stories of each culture. Through these many stories and arguably many more, we can better understand our common humanity and ultimately work towards a more inclusive world.
Marie-Adélina de la Ferrière is the public relations specialist at equalpride, editor of Out and Out.com.
Views expressed in Out’Opinion articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Out or our parent company, equalpride.
