Fish Face by Leanne Moden

A large tree in the middle of green woodland. Large white text reads: Fish Face. Smaller text reads: Discussing disabled characters in fairy tales and folklore.

Of course, we knew that they existed –
in picture books and fairy tales –
but when we finally
dredged one up from the depths
we were more than a little surprised.
 
She was nothing like we imagined:
 
no flowing golden hair
and sun-kissed skin.
No silvery voice
or wide submissive eyes.
No pert little breasts modestly
shielded from sight behind a seashell bra.
 
No, she was nothing like we imagined:
 
All iridescent scales crusted with
barnacles; matted seaweed-frond hair
and a voice like a hurricane.
Gills and teeth and spines;
 
more monster than maiden.
 
She was fascinating – but she would never
make the cover of a magazine.
 
Still, we lapped up every TV interview,
documentary and podcast, every forward-thinking
think-piece, and long-form feminist essay.
And, when one Saturday morning
TV presenter broached the question
of her appearance,
we held our breath…
 
She said:
My body carries me
across oceans and through storms.
My body can withstand the pressure of
five thousand fathoms of seawater
and swim for six miles without rest.
 
My body has borne me children
and survived the sharks and
sea monsters of this world.
 
My body is my instrument;
my body is my weapon.
My body is exactly what I need it to be.
 
It may not be perfect
but I am not afraid of it,
because my body is beautiful.”
 
Soon, models were walking the runways
wearing artificial gills, and young men
and women were saving up to have scales
surgically implanted under their skin.
 
Green hair dye sold out in shops
and swimming pool salesman
struggled to meet the demand.
 
People prayed for gills and teeth and spines.
 
The mermaid – realising that humanity
had almost entirely missed the point –
returned to the sea.

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Originally published in Leanne Moden's collection Get Over Yourself (Burning Eye Books: 2020).