tired: mermaids are all women
wired: much like elves, merfolk are mistaken by sailors for being all women because they have long hair and are very pretty
inspired: merfolk actually have very different concepts of gender to humans because theyβre an entirely different species with their own unique culture
marine scientist: whatβs your gender?
merperson: whatβs a gender
marine scientist: like, are you a man or a woman?
merperson: iβm merfolk
marine scientist: no, like, whatβs in your pants?
merperson: i donβtβ¦ wear any? i donβt have legs?
Itβs a biological fact that fish do indeed change their sex to keep the male/female ratio balanced in their school population. So this fluidity actually makes more sense from a scientific standpoint than the silly idea that merfolk are born with a strictly assigned sex like humans.
Merfolk are all canonically genderfluid and we love them for that
Human: (invites merfolk friend to a boat party with their friends)
Merfolk: oh man, there are a lot of women here. Haha donβt worry guys, I got this :) *changes into a man to keep a balance because thatβs culturally polite for merfolk*
Human: (spits drink) what the FUCK
OH MY GOD
So in the presence of a ship with an entirely or mostly male crew, nearby mermaids would become female to keep the balance.
Thatβs it. We figured out why everyone thinks merfolk are all women. Get a boat of fems out there and letβs see what they report.
