The Post Oddity of the Week: Mermaids, Fact or Fiction?
Created | Updated Aug 27, 2012
This week's Oddity addresses a burning issue.
Mermaids: Fact or Fiction?
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is adamant: 'No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.' So there. Don't annoy NOAA, they do good work.
Why is a US government agency exercised about fishy females? It's the 'Animal Planet' and its, er, docufiction. There needs to be better labelling on these things: recently, we've seen 'found footage' of the chupacabra that makes the Blair Witch Project look tame. And we're still trying to persuade some people that The Man from Atlantis was not a National Geographic production.
The Library of Congress has this advertising lithograph from 1888 filed under the heading of 'Mythology [Greek and Roman] Goddesses'. Take that, Animal Planet. She's 'admiring a string of pearls'. The connection between pearls and fine tobacco is not obvious to us. But at least she isn't attacking a megalodon (extinct shark) with a trident, like the prehistoric babe in the TV show.
The management would also like to point out that it finds the whole idea of 'mermaids' rather sexist. Far too seldom is there any mention of mermen. A search for 'merman' in the Library of Congress catalog yields only pictures of singer Ethel. One enterprising soul, however, has located a hippie merman of yesteryear – but he's hanging on a Christmas tree. Peace, man.
No wonder the merspecies is endangered.
