With all of the romance, lust, mystery, and occasional danger folded into nearly every mermaid tale, it’s somewhat easy to explain our fixation on these characters. But where the stories ensnare us all is in how one-dimensional they can be, especially when it comes to surface level mermaid archetypes, which are often full of hyper-sexualization, body image expectations, and heteronormative gender roles. Dive in with us past the surface level narratives we’ve learned about merfolk, and explore deeper waters.