MERMaid melody in RMAP argument

Are sexist jokes OK? Is it OK to accept them and when confronted by them in public, even laugh at them?

Mermaids have a terrific value for us, and might represent not only a legendary aquatic creature but a human attunement with nature so eloquently demanded of us by Roger Bradbury, also present on the dais at last thursday’s argument on marine conservation. Hearing this mention of mermaids, I was reminded of the 2003 ‘Fluid Bonds’ workshop in which Professor Deborrah Rose so melodiously told how the aboriginal ancestors dreamed up beautiful mermaids in their barren and dry deserts.

Wikipedia tells us that the term mermaid is from mere (the obsolete Middle English term for the ’sea’) + maid(en). If this mythical creature with the head and torso of human female and the tail of a fish, had a male version, it would be called a merman. Mermans are apparently much less common than mermaids (and don’t look as good), but offer more of a problem, though for whom I’ll leave you to speculate.

A relevant and scholarly point was raised by Pascal, the moderator, in his summing up observation that women in communities WANT to be a part of the consultation process in marine park conservation, and that women’s preferences and choices in marine conservation are different than those expressed by men in the communities. In doing so, he successfully brought home the importance of gender - one of the most crucial aspects of natural resource management - that is about time for us to recognise.