Julian is a mermaid

[2in2022twoyearson]

I'll admit, I've not read the book, but my DD (6yo) is reading it at school. Is it a good one? Anything to be wary of...if the message is, he's a boy, who dresses up as a mermaid, but still a boy, that's ok. I think I won't ask about it, just see if she brings it up.

I think it's the wider cultural context that makes me uncomfortable.

I think the best thing would be for you to read it and form your own opinion.

The biggest issue is that he's not a merman, but otherwise it's fine.

I googled it: Julián Is a Mermaid - Wikipedia
It says it was originally going to be about drag queens not mermaids, so... phew!

If he remains a boy-mermaid [let's not get hung up on the merminology] you could use it to emphasise that boys can do anything, and girls can do anything, any child can dress up as a mermaid, of course it's just dressing up isn't it? they are still a little boy or a little girl, but didn't they have fun pretending to be a
mermaid for a little while?

Gosh I didn't realise I could be so Machiavellian!😄

@MarieDeGournay

Merminology

Yep, surely he'd be a merman and not a mermaid if they're genuinely trying to tell a little fantasy tale and are not seeking to use such a pretext as an excuse to shoehorn their genderist ideology in under false pretences.

No boy can be a mermaid (even if they existed); just as no girl can be merman, except Ethel.

Had a good laugh thanks. I do think boys should be able to play princess, unicorns and mermaids as my DDs friends are boys and she is getting the idea that unicorns are too girly for her. But princesses and mermaids are female inherently aren't they. Should be Julian is a merman. I will have to find the actual book, or watch it on YouTube, I think I'm overthinking dressing up and sexulsaising little boys after reading a horrible headline from the Taliban. 😞 But the message of little boys can play dress up is a good one. Encouraging them into drag and pride parades not good.

It is on Youtube if you want to see what it is like.

We have it. My kids are 4 and 6. The story is fine. It's a boy who likes mermaids. He dresses up as a mermaid and goes to carnival. My kids didn't read anything into it and nor did I. It's a kid that likes something and dresses up. My kids dress up all the time.

I didn't consider it to be drag or pride parade. I thought it was Carnival.

Check reviews of the book on Amazon.

Do mermen also have the tail thing, or do they get the privilege of having practical bifurcated legs?

Now they usually have a single fish tail, like mermaids, though in the past it depended on the specific folklore or illustration in a bestiary.

And a young one would be a merlad or merboy.

Merminology is absolutely genius!! 👏

So would his family members be his merkin?

In my opinion it's a lovely book with beautiful illustrations. Julian doesn't change genders. He just dresses like a mermaid.

Snigger.

Yes. It's a shame that parents have to be suspicious of children's literature. But sadly when a number of dodgy transactivists have abused children's literature to promote a niche adult ideology at young children, it's right that parents are sceptical and double check the nature of these books.

Transgender Trend have written about this - including the unforgivable grooming of toddlers into accepting sex change:

www.transgendertrend.com/trans-picture-books-little-children/

From memory, I was disappointed to find out that the author does consider this a trans book. The actual book reads like the opposite, but somehow the author sees herself as a champion of genderism. I think.

Well it looks like it started out as a trans-ish book about a little boy wanting to dress up as a drag queen, but it went merperson instead, fortunately.

I think it's probably not worth arguing that a boy would become a merboy/man not a mermaid, 'mermaid' is a fairly neutral word because 'maid' is out of circulation as meaning 'girl'.

And there was another point I wished to make ... oh yes - and also they don't actually exist - but don't tell the OP's DD😧

Let's just assume that the fish part is sex/gender neutral, and a boy or a girl could tack themselves on interchangeably, and the sum of the parts would be assigned the sex - and/or gender - of the human part.

Apart from Ethel sui generis Merman, as my learned friend DalzielOrNoDalzielAndDontPascoe points out.

I hope that clarifies this complex issue. I'm so glad I majored in Merminology and can be of service when controversies like this arise
OP - when you read the book yourself, you can see if there's anything that can't be explained away to your little DD by 'that's just because mermaids are magic'

Wow... From that wiki page:

"Love's initial plan was to have Julián meet with drag queens on their way to a drag ball, inspired by RuPaul's Drag Race, but in an interview with PinkNews, she said she changed the characters to mermaids, as her research uncovered the mythical creature's significance to transgender people: "There's something about mermaids. Who knows if that's because they're magical creatures who can live between two realities or because they don't have any genitals."[3]

Beyond parody! I bet her agent was glad, though. Mermaids are a much easier sell to parents. And to children.

Completely by the by, I also clicked the link to find out what the Coney Island Mermaid Parade is, and apparently it's a real event in which they get a couple of celebs to be crowned mermaid king and queen. Guess who it was in 2018... Our pal Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer 😒

Guess who it was in 2018... Our pal Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer 😒

Neil Garman?? Get outta here! You're bustin' my chops [as they say in Coney Island]
That's an amazing coincidence - like there's a wormhole between two different threads

Re: interpretation of children's books, I think this is similar to Brenda is a Sheep. Brenda is a wolf who pretends to be a sheep, initially to get close to the sheep so she can eat them. By the end [SPOILER] she and the sheep are all friends and she hasn't eaten them ... yet! I know people think it is TRA propaganda but I can't read it as anything other than gender critical. It is so obvious that Brenda is a wolf and everyone knows that, even when they're saying, 'After all, Brenda is a sheep'. I read it to my kids (every child in Scotland received it one year, of course!) and at the end asked them if Brenda was really a sheep. Can you guess their answer?!

I do have concerns about the message that because the sheep budged up and were nice to Brenda she decided not to eat them but equally it's clear what her original intention was and that she is still very much a wolf. I think it's likely with a lot of these books, if you buy the bullshit you will find it convincing but if you don't it may well serve to reinforce your gender critical view. Because rainbows, sparkles and mermaid tails aren't actually going to convince most sane people that humans can transform into mermaids or change their sex. Or that a wolf in sheep's clothing is anything but that.

I've never been quite sure what I think about Julian is a Mermaid, so understand where you're coming from. But how about discussing the topic via some other books at home?

• My Body is Me! (buy one for home, another for school? "oops, I ordered two! Would you like it?")
• Dogger (old-fashioned dressing-up, sensitive boy who loves his cuddly toy, girl who is sporty)
• Doug the Bug is probably a bit young, but I quite like how it models boy-boy friendship
• Yellow Bird, Black Spider. Features living imaginatively and also realism. Short and very funny.

Hmm, that's all for now. There must be some other good ones, will have a think.

Thanks @ExtraordinaryMachine1 her school encourages us to buy books for the class.

Let's not forget the premier child trans organisation is called 'Mermaids'. I'm pretty certain that the autor of the book was trying to convey a trans message.

If not the concept of merman or merboy could have been introduced. Why shouldn't boys also be able to dress up and to swim about with a fish tail?