It is often cited that the legend of mermaids sprang when sailors who were out at sea for days, in a state of delusion would begin mistaking the graceful manatee for mermaids. Maybe the sight of something even remotely effeminate, made them plain horny. Or maybe breathing the salty sea winds for days on end could make anyone hallucinate enough to mistake a manatee for a mermaid. I guess when it comes to water anything goes, for eg. if toy submarines can be mistaken for lake monsters then what is so absurd about sex starved men believing that manatees were in fact mermaids?
That brings me to the title of the post, 'The Mermaid Theory'. The similarly named episode from one of my favorite shows How I Met Your Mother, has sex-addict bachelor Barney explain to his married friend Marshall, that every woman has a mermaid clock. When a guy befriends a girl, the mermaid clock starts ticking. And however repugnant a girl seems initially, there reaches a point in their friendship when the girl turns from manatee (repugnant) to mermaid (desirable). Marshall who has always found his company secretary loathsome, one day walks into her office to find her turned into a mermaid.
When I heard this theory, it reminded me of the tale of the Princess and the Frog, which could be interpreted on similar lines. The frog who was an ugly, despicable creature turned into a Prince with just a kiss from the Princess. So does it mean that there comes a point in relationships between men and women that platonic love stops being platonic? Whether this works more in the case of men or women I cannot say for sure but I am certain that a lot of this theory does hold true.
"My own story goes like this. When I went to college, the first day of class I went and sat next to the most nerdy looking guy in class. He wore the thickest glasses. He was shy, nice, nervous, helpful - the opposite of what I considered 'my type' of a guy to be. After spending many hours with him in class, and on team projects I started getting the feeling that maybe he is not that uninteresting. It was one day during one of the last lectures, when he tried blocking my path playfully, I realized all weak-kneed that the frog had indeed turned into a Prince." Source: Here
~Boring Days, No School
~Smokes All Around Me
~Watching Series Like Hell
~Source: Here
