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| Rise of the mermaids: Weeki Wachee's biggest attraction makes quite a splash | Rise of the mermaids: Weeki Wachee's biggest attraction makes quite a splash |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Weeki Wachee has the warm feeling of a grandparent’s home – it’s worn and weathered, there’s some peeling paint but features like the clamshell roof seem to have crossed from out-of-date to keenly retro. The natural spring come waterpark is stunning, a cerulean blue, the color of an iceberg but 74 degrees year-round. | Weeki Wachee has the warm feeling of a grandparent’s home – it’s worn and weathered, there’s some peeling paint but features like the clamshell roof seem to have crossed from out-of-date to keenly retro. The natural spring come waterpark is stunning, a cerulean blue, the color of an iceberg but 74 degrees year-round. |
| This unlikely roadside attraction is wedged along Florida’s west coast near the Chassahowitzka national wildlife preserve, more than an hour and 30 minutes from the nearest big cities of Tampa and Orlando and smack in the middle of rural territory dominated by agribusiness, forests and RV parks. | This unlikely roadside attraction is wedged along Florida’s west coast near the Chassahowitzka national wildlife preserve, more than an hour and 30 minutes from the nearest big cities of Tampa and Orlando and smack in the middle of rural territory dominated by agribusiness, forests and RV parks. |
| Nevertheless, 308,000 people visited the spring last year. Over the last few years, the park’s attendance has improved up to 40% each year. Asian tourists in cowboy hats, pale white-haired women in cotton dolphin smocks, and at least one girl scout troop packed the 400-seat submarine auditorium on a recent Tuesday. It’s possible they’re lured in by the spring or the “river boat cruise.”. | Nevertheless, 308,000 people visited the spring last year. Over the last few years, the park’s attendance has improved up to 40% each year. Asian tourists in cowboy hats, pale white-haired women in cotton dolphin smocks, and at least one girl scout troop packed the 400-seat submarine auditorium on a recent Tuesday. It’s possible they’re lured in by the spring or the “river boat cruise.”. |
| But only one park attraction has an hour-long wait: the mermaid show. | But only one park attraction has an hour-long wait: the mermaid show. |
| Smiling in cherry red lipstick and tailed in sewn lycra tubes, the women of Weeki Wachee make the show look effortless. The audience applauds as they grab the ends of one another’s tail to wheel around before the glass. They twirl and blow kisses, breathing out of black compressor tubes filled with air. | Smiling in cherry red lipstick and tailed in sewn lycra tubes, the women of Weeki Wachee make the show look effortless. The audience applauds as they grab the ends of one another’s tail to wheel around before the glass. They twirl and blow kisses, breathing out of black compressor tubes filled with air. |
| The park’s resurgence is recent. It languished for years after a late-1950s heyday, when white women demonstrated underwater picnicking and soda drinking. | The park’s resurgence is recent. It languished for years after a late-1950s heyday, when white women demonstrated underwater picnicking and soda drinking. |
| Some wager that the park’s cultural relevance is peaking as it moves from being seen as outdated to antique, a disappearing display of old-Florida camp. Maybe nostalgia-hungry tourists are spiking attendance. Maybe it’s just better marketing. | Some wager that the park’s cultural relevance is peaking as it moves from being seen as outdated to antique, a disappearing display of old-Florida camp. Maybe nostalgia-hungry tourists are spiking attendance. Maybe it’s just better marketing. |
| But there’s another explanation too – that mermaids have taken up the mantel as America’s “new vampire,” pop culture’s latest pick for the sexy-scary-sweet monster that is supposed to tell us something about our own humanity. The monsters that, unwittingly, carry our society’s baggage with them. | But there’s another explanation too – that mermaids have taken up the mantel as America’s “new vampire,” pop culture’s latest pick for the sexy-scary-sweet monster that is supposed to tell us something about our own humanity. The monsters that, unwittingly, carry our society’s baggage with them. |
| Weeki Wachee first started in 1947, the brainchild of Navyman Newton Perry, who hauled rusted refrigerators and abandoned cars out of the crystalline spring to sink a theater 6 ft below the surface. | Weeki Wachee first started in 1947, the brainchild of Navyman Newton Perry, who hauled rusted refrigerators and abandoned cars out of the crystalline spring to sink a theater 6 ft below the surface. |
| That theater was later sunken 16ft below the surface, when it was purchased by ABC in 1959. When the network purchased the park it incorporated the city too, a tiny place with a permanent population of between three and nine residents. The brilliant marketing scheme allowed the city to place roadside signs leading to the park, and call Weeki Wachee a city of more mermaids than men. | That theater was later sunken 16ft below the surface, when it was purchased by ABC in 1959. When the network purchased the park it incorporated the city too, a tiny place with a permanent population of between three and nine residents. The brilliant marketing scheme allowed the city to place roadside signs leading to the park, and call Weeki Wachee a city of more mermaids than men. |
| “The Weeki Wachee mermaids, when they started in the 1940s, they were internationally famous”, said Jennifer Kokai, a theater history professor from Weber University in Utah. She’s spent much of her professional career studying mermaids in water-shows in Texas and Florida. | “The Weeki Wachee mermaids, when they started in the 1940s, they were internationally famous”, said Jennifer Kokai, a theater history professor from Weber University in Utah. She’s spent much of her professional career studying mermaids in water-shows in Texas and Florida. |
| “They could be underwater, and make it look like they belonged there. That was before Jacques Cousteau,” and before widely available public pools, she notes. | “They could be underwater, and make it look like they belonged there. That was before Jacques Cousteau,” and before widely available public pools, she notes. |
| At the time, the women were among a group of women athletes being pushed to “swim pretty,” rather rather than competitively, Kokai said. Probably one of the best-known examples of this was Esther Williams, an Olympian often portrayed as a mermaid, and who later made a career swimming on-screen. She also visited Weeki Wachee. | At the time, the women were among a group of women athletes being pushed to “swim pretty,” rather rather than competitively, Kokai said. Probably one of the best-known examples of this was Esther Williams, an Olympian often portrayed as a mermaid, and who later made a career swimming on-screen. She also visited Weeki Wachee. |
| Now, the women of Weeki Wachee serve as a historical backdrop to a growing resurgence in mermaid mythology. There are “mermaiders” fighting for rights to swim in public pools wearing silicone tails, professional mermaids available for your next aquarium opening or pool party and a variety of custom tail-makers from whom to purchase your tails. | Now, the women of Weeki Wachee serve as a historical backdrop to a growing resurgence in mermaid mythology. There are “mermaiders” fighting for rights to swim in public pools wearing silicone tails, professional mermaids available for your next aquarium opening or pool party and a variety of custom tail-makers from whom to purchase your tails. |
| “It has been noted fervently that the mermaid is currently experiencing a resurgence in popular culture, competing with widely adored, utilized, and mythologized monsters such as vampires and werewolves,” wrote Australian PhD candidate Venetia Laura Delano Robertson, a University of Sydney researcher who has also studied “Bronies”, the adult fans of My Little Pony. | “It has been noted fervently that the mermaid is currently experiencing a resurgence in popular culture, competing with widely adored, utilized, and mythologized monsters such as vampires and werewolves,” wrote Australian PhD candidate Venetia Laura Delano Robertson, a University of Sydney researcher who has also studied “Bronies”, the adult fans of My Little Pony. |
| There have been attempts at MerCons and MerPalooza’s. In North Carolina there was a Merfest in January this year. | There have been attempts at MerCons and MerPalooza’s. In North Carolina there was a Merfest in January this year. |
| Professional mermaids | Professional mermaids |
| Now, like in the 1940s, the women swimming as professional mermaids at Weeki Wachee are incredible athletes. Performing in the park’s mermaid show is something like synchronized freediving with your legs tied together and weighed down inside a lycra cocoon. | Now, like in the 1940s, the women swimming as professional mermaids at Weeki Wachee are incredible athletes. Performing in the park’s mermaid show is something like synchronized freediving with your legs tied together and weighed down inside a lycra cocoon. |
| Women leave the spring shivering from the 30 minutes performances in the 74 degree water. The mermaids not only swim and smile, but kindly bat away curious turtles and watch for poisonous snakes as they work (water moccasins, not alligators, they say, are what you have to “watch out for”). | Women leave the spring shivering from the 30 minutes performances in the 74 degree water. The mermaids not only swim and smile, but kindly bat away curious turtles and watch for poisonous snakes as they work (water moccasins, not alligators, they say, are what you have to “watch out for”). |
| They act, mouth words, and have underwater costume changes. So that they appear to emerge from the bottom of the spring, they must enter the underwater stage through a claustrophobic cement cylinder filled with water, that drops 16 ft below the surface then runs 64 ft to the underwater stage. | They act, mouth words, and have underwater costume changes. So that they appear to emerge from the bottom of the spring, they must enter the underwater stage through a claustrophobic cement cylinder filled with water, that drops 16 ft below the surface then runs 64 ft to the underwater stage. |
| Many professional mermaids can hold their breath upwards of four minutes. At Weeki Wachee, mermaids must be able to freedive to 117 ft below the surface of the spring, as well as perform ballet-like choreography. | Many professional mermaids can hold their breath upwards of four minutes. At Weeki Wachee, mermaids must be able to freedive to 117 ft below the surface of the spring, as well as perform ballet-like choreography. |
| The show’s kitsch, however, cannot be overstated. | The show’s kitsch, however, cannot be overstated. |
| For the finale of Tuesday’s first show, the mermaids shed their tails to rise from the depths wearing white one-piece bathing suits trimmed with stars and stripes, lifting a roughly 6ft by 4ft American flag to the tune of “Proud to be an American”. | For the finale of Tuesday’s first show, the mermaids shed their tails to rise from the depths wearing white one-piece bathing suits trimmed with stars and stripes, lifting a roughly 6ft by 4ft American flag to the tune of “Proud to be an American”. |
| Alongside the decades-old saccharine performances are wildly creative videos coming out of Weeki Wachee, many produced by 27-year-old Little Mermaid “prince” Dennis Doucette. One could easily devour 30 of Ducette’s Aquaman videos, addictive six-second Vines mostly filmed at the spring. | Alongside the decades-old saccharine performances are wildly creative videos coming out of Weeki Wachee, many produced by 27-year-old Little Mermaid “prince” Dennis Doucette. One could easily devour 30 of Ducette’s Aquaman videos, addictive six-second Vines mostly filmed at the spring. |
| One of the more well-known full-time mermaids, Mermaid Melissa, worked at SeaWorld for 10 years as a marine mammal trainer before crossing into mermaiding. She has since legally changed her name, and talks in mermaid puns (shetalks of her “shell” phone and of her tail’s “development”). | One of the more well-known full-time mermaids, Mermaid Melissa, worked at SeaWorld for 10 years as a marine mammal trainer before crossing into mermaiding. She has since legally changed her name, and talks in mermaid puns (shetalks of her “shell” phone and of her tail’s “development”). |
| Melissa no longer checks her phone’s voicemail, she said, because it’s “overwhelmed” with long messages from children. Her email account is also flooded by children hoping to speak with a “real mermaid.” And her 16 large, $5,000-a-piece custom silicone tails have nearly taken over a room in her Orlando, Florida house. | Melissa no longer checks her phone’s voicemail, she said, because it’s “overwhelmed” with long messages from children. Her email account is also flooded by children hoping to speak with a “real mermaid.” And her 16 large, $5,000-a-piece custom silicone tails have nearly taken over a room in her Orlando, Florida house. |
| “There’s a lot of people now who get a tail in hopes of having a mermaid job or career, and it’s a difficult lifestyle,” said Melissa. “There are no mermaid jobs that are just readily available.” | “There’s a lot of people now who get a tail in hopes of having a mermaid job or career, and it’s a difficult lifestyle,” said Melissa. “There are no mermaid jobs that are just readily available.” |
| The industry has also grown to include amateur swimmers, women dedicated enough to remaking themselves in the image of a mermaid that they have fought city councils to wear silicone tails in public pools. | The industry has also grown to include amateur swimmers, women dedicated enough to remaking themselves in the image of a mermaid that they have fought city councils to wear silicone tails in public pools. |
| Jennifer Conti brought her mermaid tail with her to the FishHawk Community Development District meeting in Tampa, when she argued she should be allowed to swim in the development’s public pool with her tail. | Jennifer Conti brought her mermaid tail with her to the FishHawk Community Development District meeting in Tampa, when she argued she should be allowed to swim in the development’s public pool with her tail. |
| She fought the district, “to just [be able to] swim with the kids, it’s supposed to be for everybody,” she told a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. | She fought the district, “to just [be able to] swim with the kids, it’s supposed to be for everybody,” she told a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. |
| In Canada, pool officials are fighting similar battles. | In Canada, pool officials are fighting similar battles. |
| “[Mermaid tails] bind legs together and make it difficult to safely manoeuvre in the water,” Rob Campbell, City of Edmonton aquatic strategies supervisor told CBC, about his concerns with Alberta parents’ fight to allow their children to swim in mermaid tails. The practice, “promotes breath-holding which can result in blackouts,” Campbell told the news station. | “[Mermaid tails] bind legs together and make it difficult to safely manoeuvre in the water,” Rob Campbell, City of Edmonton aquatic strategies supervisor told CBC, about his concerns with Alberta parents’ fight to allow their children to swim in mermaid tails. The practice, “promotes breath-holding which can result in blackouts,” Campbell told the news station. |
| Tail-making is business | Tail-making is business |
| As the mermaiding community has exploded, so have tail-making businesses. | As the mermaiding community has exploded, so have tail-making businesses. |
| These are not the tails of Splash – the 1980s love flick starring Daryl Hannah that many in the industry now see as a watershed moment in mermaiding culture. Hannah’s latex monofin took eight hours to get into, so long that she couldn’t eat or drink during filming lest she need to start the retailing process again. | These are not the tails of Splash – the 1980s love flick starring Daryl Hannah that many in the industry now see as a watershed moment in mermaiding culture. Hannah’s latex monofin took eight hours to get into, so long that she couldn’t eat or drink during filming lest she need to start the retailing process again. |
| The new set of businesses supplying silicone tails are born of the internet, fulfilling the niche cosplay desires of a growing (or maybe it was always there?) market to live the childhood mermaid fantasy. | The new set of businesses supplying silicone tails are born of the internet, fulfilling the niche cosplay desires of a growing (or maybe it was always there?) market to live the childhood mermaid fantasy. |
| Eric Ducharme’s business, Mertailor LLC is one such example. He got his first tax ID number to start the tail business at 14-years-old. He works about 40 minutes north of Weeki Wachee in Crystal River, Florida, a town even more rural (population: 3,108) than Weeki Wachee. His custom-made tails can cost up to $30,000, and his clients include Herbal Essences and Lady Gaga, and his tails were recently featured in a W magazine spread. | Eric Ducharme’s business, Mertailor LLC is one such example. He got his first tax ID number to start the tail business at 14-years-old. He works about 40 minutes north of Weeki Wachee in Crystal River, Florida, a town even more rural (population: 3,108) than Weeki Wachee. His custom-made tails can cost up to $30,000, and his clients include Herbal Essences and Lady Gaga, and his tails were recently featured in a W magazine spread. |
| Ducharme, now 24, describes himself as be something of a prodigy in the pool. He may have been the only person, and almost certainly the only man, exempted from Weeki Wachee’s 18 and over policy for performers. In his studio hangs a portrait of himself in an orange mermaid tail, swimming contemplatively near the bottom of a black pool. | Ducharme, now 24, describes himself as be something of a prodigy in the pool. He may have been the only person, and almost certainly the only man, exempted from Weeki Wachee’s 18 and over policy for performers. In his studio hangs a portrait of himself in an orange mermaid tail, swimming contemplatively near the bottom of a black pool. |
| His business now sells an about $120 “eco mermaid tail,” made of swimsuit material, in both adult and children’s sizes. Since introducing the product, he sells more adult tails than kids – up to 250 per month. | His business now sells an about $120 “eco mermaid tail,” made of swimsuit material, in both adult and children’s sizes. Since introducing the product, he sells more adult tails than kids – up to 250 per month. |
| “I think most people are buying them because they had a dream of being a mermaid as a kid,” said Ducharme. | “I think most people are buying them because they had a dream of being a mermaid as a kid,” said Ducharme. |
| Ducharme says business doubles each year. “Never in a million years did I think I was going to be able to live my dream,” as a mermaid tail-maker, said Ducharme. | Ducharme says business doubles each year. “Never in a million years did I think I was going to be able to live my dream,” as a mermaid tail-maker, said Ducharme. |
| Merman, diversity and the underwater glass ceiling | |
| Just as some academics have argued that vampires play to tropes of male whiteness, mermaids carry with them our society’s own ills, especially in the setting of water, a scene of historical race-strife. | Just as some academics have argued that vampires play to tropes of male whiteness, mermaids carry with them our society’s own ills, especially in the setting of water, a scene of historical race-strife. |
| “The deal is that culturally mermaids have been a safe way for white women to express sexuality because while the top half of the mermaid might be really pretty and attractive, the bottom half is a fish, so it’s the ultimate kind of look and don’t touch,” said Professor Kokai. “I think it’s a way for women to play around with sexuality without being seen as impure or slutty.” | “The deal is that culturally mermaids have been a safe way for white women to express sexuality because while the top half of the mermaid might be really pretty and attractive, the bottom half is a fish, so it’s the ultimate kind of look and don’t touch,” said Professor Kokai. “I think it’s a way for women to play around with sexuality without being seen as impure or slutty.” |
| “As far as I know, [Weeki Wachee has] never had a black performer, ever,” professor Kokai said, though the question is difficult to answer definitively because the park’s archival photos were burned in an ownership change. “They had one japanese performer, in the 1960s.” | |
| Spokesperson for Weeki Wachee, John Athanason, said there had been a black mermaid while he was at the park, and said in an email that he was “told there were others before”. | Spokesperson for Weeki Wachee, John Athanason, said there had been a black mermaid while he was at the park, and said in an email that he was “told there were others before”. |
| The most recent high-profile example of the racial strife around water in the US was a pool party in Texas, where a police officer pulled a gun on black teenagers after they were “refusing to leave”. | The most recent high-profile example of the racial strife around water in the US was a pool party in Texas, where a police officer pulled a gun on black teenagers after they were “refusing to leave”. |
| In the mermaid context, Kokai cites bizarre incidences of water parks casting crustaceans as black male figures, and points to Sebastian, the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. | In the mermaid context, Kokai cites bizarre incidences of water parks casting crustaceans as black male figures, and points to Sebastian, the crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. |
| “These sort of fish people of color, and the white half-fish mermaids are often depicted as living a very care free life, not worrying about the sorts of concerns of men, as sort of commerce and industry,” said professor Kokai. “The troubling implication, of course, are the ideas that women are sort of lazy, island-others floating around in this nostalgia.” | “These sort of fish people of color, and the white half-fish mermaids are often depicted as living a very care free life, not worrying about the sorts of concerns of men, as sort of commerce and industry,” said professor Kokai. “The troubling implication, of course, are the ideas that women are sort of lazy, island-others floating around in this nostalgia.” |
| In the mermaiding world, there is also a dearth of mermen, though there looks to be some movement on that front as the LGBT community has gained acceptance over the last decade. Ducharme, for example, discusses mermaids as a source of empowerment, and underwater as a place he feels comfortable. | In the mermaiding world, there is also a dearth of mermen, though there looks to be some movement on that front as the LGBT community has gained acceptance over the last decade. Ducharme, for example, discusses mermaids as a source of empowerment, and underwater as a place he feels comfortable. |
| “I call it life behind the underwater glass windows,” Ducharme said. | “I call it life behind the underwater glass windows,” Ducharme said. |
| Transgender teen Jazz Jennings has also started a tail-making company, Purple Rainbow Tails, and aspires to be a mermaid. | Transgender teen Jazz Jennings has also started a tail-making company, Purple Rainbow Tails, and aspires to be a mermaid. |
| “Mermaids are just the most whimsical, mystical creatures of all time,” Jennings told Cosmopolitan magazine. “A lot of transgender individuals are attracted to mermaids and I think it’s because they don’t have any genitals, just a beautiful tail. I definitely secretly dream of being a mermaid. I’m not really attracted to boys; I’m attracted to mermen.” | “Mermaids are just the most whimsical, mystical creatures of all time,” Jennings told Cosmopolitan magazine. “A lot of transgender individuals are attracted to mermaids and I think it’s because they don’t have any genitals, just a beautiful tail. I definitely secretly dream of being a mermaid. I’m not really attracted to boys; I’m attracted to mermen.” |
| “I was obsessed, I guess you could say, with Weeki Wachee,” said Ducharme. After his first visit as a small child, younger than 5, Ducharme asked to see the show hundreds of times. “Back then it wasn’t a normal thing for boys, men, especially younger kids, to be involved with it,” said Ducharme about mermaiding. | “I was obsessed, I guess you could say, with Weeki Wachee,” said Ducharme. After his first visit as a small child, younger than 5, Ducharme asked to see the show hundreds of times. “Back then it wasn’t a normal thing for boys, men, especially younger kids, to be involved with it,” said Ducharme about mermaiding. |
| “I don’t think the merman market has been huge because people are people have been uncomfortable with it,” Candy Ducharme said, attributing the lack of mermen to “fear”. She said a young man came into the shop Monday of the same week to buy a tail. | “I don’t think the merman market has been huge because people are people have been uncomfortable with it,” Candy Ducharme said, attributing the lack of mermen to “fear”. She said a young man came into the shop Monday of the same week to buy a tail. |
| Ducharme said when young men come into her shop to buy tails, she often points them to her son’s portrait. “He can walk in here and be very comfortable in his own skin,” said Candy Ducharme. “That is what we’re all about.” | Ducharme said when young men come into her shop to buy tails, she often points them to her son’s portrait. “He can walk in here and be very comfortable in his own skin,” said Candy Ducharme. “That is what we’re all about.” |
| Ducharme’s next business target is the LGBT swimwear market. “People just love scales,” he said. | Ducharme’s next business target is the LGBT swimwear market. “People just love scales,” he said. |