The Fallen state of mankind.....
Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; Psalm 73:12
The outlet profiles Queen Pangke Tabora, who’s made the transition to
life under the sea. In 2019, the former insurance company employee put
on a pair of fins and was hooked.
[Queen Pangke describes] the experience of gliding under water,
half-human and half-fish, as “meditation in motion.” … “The world
outside is really noisy, and you will find peace under water.”
For the transgender Filipina woman approaching middle age, seeing her
legs encased in vibrant scaly-looking neoprene…was the
realization of a childhood dream. “The feeling was mermai-zing,” [Queen Pangke] said one recent morning while lounging in a fiery red tail on a rocky beach south of Manila, where she now teaches mermaiding and freediving full-time.
From the "Really" File |
realization of a childhood dream. “The feeling was mermai-zing,” [Queen Pangke] said one recent morning while lounging in a fiery red tail on a rocky beach south of Manila, where she now teaches mermaiding and freediving full-time.
Across the world, there are thousands more merfolk like her — at its
simplest, humans of all shapes, genders and backgrounds who enjoy
dressing up as mermaids. In recent years, a growing number have
gleefully flocked to mermaid conventions and competitions, formed local
groups called “pods,” launched mermaid magazines and poured their
savings into a multimillion-dollar mermaid tail industry.
When mermaiding first started to catch on, most tails for sale were
custom-made silicone creations that weigh up to 50
pounds, cost upwards of $6,000 and take a surprising amount of time and
lubricant to wrestle into. But over the past few years, the increasing
availability of cheaper, lighter fabric options — some of which sell for
less than $100 — has transformed the mermaiding community from an
exclusive enclave for privileged professionals into an achievable dream
for the wider public.
It is…inspiring to (transgender) merfolk like Che
Monique, the Washington, D.C.-based founder of the Society of Fat
Mermaids, which promotes body-positive mermaiding. “I’m a 300-pound Black mermaid in America over 35, and hopefully that
tells somebody they can do whatever they want to do,” says Monique,
whose group sells shirts that read ‘Fat mermaids make waves’ and ‘Gender
is fluid under the sea.’
Mermaid Nymphia grew up as a male-presenting child of the 1990s, and
gender norms dashed her dream of dressing up as her idol, Ariel. Years
later, as an adult transgender woman, her dream was finally realized
when her mother helped her sew her first mermaid costume. “With transgender and nonbinary merfolk, they often connect with that
mentality where you’re not quite sure which world you belong in, but
you’re able to be this alluring creature of the sea and live as your
most authentic self,” Nymphia says. “I know a lot of people who have
found their gender identity, myself included, through mermaiding.”
“As transgender, it’s a transition,” [Queen Pangke] says. “It’s like in the sea, everything evolves.” Redstate