Mermaids and Pedophiles: Decentering the Male Gaze in Art

Written By Em Woods

A Mermaid: Unseen

Digital Art

Emory Fae

2026 




  “A Mermaid; Unseen” explores themes of the male gaze, womanhood in contrast to childhood, and undisturbed self-care. As a response to John William Waterhouse’s 1900 “A Mermaid”, as well as the release of the Epstein Files, “A Mermaid: Unseen” reimagines Waterhouse’s mermaid as a woman instead of a young girl.  “A Mermaid: Unseen” confronts the violence of viewing, especially through the dominant male gaze, and the pedophilic themes so often perpetrated by pre-raphaelic work. This is highlighted by the contrast between the young girls shock at being found and seen, and how my mermaid enjoys the safety of a moment alone.  It reimagines classically represented femininity as mature, self-assured, strong, and self-centering (in opposition to [male]/viewer centered). Unlike her younger counterpart who is exposed on the beach, she is surrounded by soft, womb-like shapes. She is adorned with the pearls that the younger mermaid sits beside in a subtle reclamation of self, sexuality, adulthood, and peace. The violence of the viewing that takes place within Waterhouse’s is erased, and instead of the viewer (and painter) being the instigation of the young mermaid's surprise, curiosity, and perhaps fear, my mermaid is unaware or unbothered by the viewer. Our presence is not an intrusion - or at least not one which interrupts her. Digitally rendered so as to mimic oil on canvas, my medium choice is an invitation to reconsider classical art in modern times. As we collectively move through the emotions unearthed by the Epstein files, and begin to disentangle ourselves from the world that the exposed pedophelic elites have created, there must be an internal reexamining of the long standing pedophelic beauty associations which got us here. Classical art is not exempt. It is time to reclaim art from the culture which would have it be used as a tool for violent viewing.



To read more about the violence of viewing through a dominant gaze, see: Allan deSouza, “The Gaze,” in How Art Can Be Thought (2018)




Fae, Emory, A Mermaid: Unseen, 2026.

Waterhouse, John, A Mermaid. 1900, Royal Academy, London. 



Em Woods