Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Mermaid & the Lobster Diver: Gender, Sexuality, and Money on the Miskito Coast

Mermaid & the Lobster Diver: Gender, Sexuality, and Money on the Miskito Coast

Herlihy, Laura Hobson

Paperback

AnthropologyCentral American HistoryGeneral Gender Studies

ISBN10: 0826350933
ISBN13: 9780826350930
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: Jun 1 2012
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.70
Height: 0.70 Width: 5.90 Depth: 8.80
Language: English

Approximately 90 percent of Miskitu boys and men in the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve along the north coast of Honduras have worked as deepwater divers in the lobster industry and their participation has left an indelible imprint on their society. While lobster diving is lucrative, it is also a life-threatening occupation and many divers have been injured or killed from decompression sickness--locally referred to as liwa mairin siknis (Mermaid sickness). According to Miskitu folklore, the Mermaid is the main water spirit, owner of all fresh and saltwater resources and capable of punishing male divers for extracting too many of her lobsters. Wary of the wrath of the supernatural liwa mairin, these men face another threat on shore: Miskitu women who use sexual magic--praidi saihka--as a tool to control men's wages and ensure that they continue to provide them with money.

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