Normal girls while growing up: Oh my god! Ariel is so pretty! I want have red hair like her and also have those shiny scales like her?
Growing up Goth, we never related to that. Definitely, some of us might have liked Ariel too, but when we discovered that there are counterparts to Ariel who was just looking at Prince Eric to take her away, we were thrilled. What were these called? Sirens!
If you have not had a lot of interaction with the mythological/fictional ocean stories, you might not know what sirens are. So well, Sirens were these beautiful mermaids that lived in a mysterious place in the ocean and lured men to their deaths. How? Well, it’s simple. You’re pretty and these men have probably lost their minds in the sea anyway. The ocean is endless and they are stuck on the ship with other men who would provide them neither with aesthetic or sexual pleasure. Think about it. In that state, you see these beautiful women calling out to you, you won’t think twice before jumping in that ocean. Once you do, you are done for. Slick and tight narrative, turning beautiful women into demons and incarnations of sin and pleasure. *rolls eyes*
Anyway, shall we do a modern interpretation of it? Well, these women have a community of their own, harmonious. However, all these sailors do is want to use them and throw them away, worse, take them along themselves. They are comfortable in their own space. How do you safeguard yourself? Well, you take advantage of the dominant narrative and turn in to lure these men and kill them if they dare even come near your home.
You see, some of us, look at these women as powerful entities who have their own way of safeguarding themselves. Before you trash the #notallmen, let us just remind you that they were pirates and sailors who were starved. Do you really think they would have let these women go? Worse, they might take their home as well.
It is always inspiring to us to take away the power of the man away from him when he thinks that he can do the same. Lilth did it, these Sirens do, why not us? We grew up and were fed that these were stories so we got up and created our own reality to fit our side of the story into it. To tell them that in our heads, maybe at least, there is no room for men who just want to use us. We took the beauty of the conventional mermaid and turned it to the dark side, unapologetically.
Hyperfeminine, much? We aren’t sorry that we paint our faces black and wear dark fish tails that scare the conventional away. It’s your choice. You can dive deeper or run, run for your life. We would talk more about the fashion and the elements that go into making this makeup look scary. We will dive deep in.
Till then, this is a little food for thought!