Within the legends of the Selkie, there are tales of mysticism, entrapment, and allure. But how far does this allure go? These legends not only tell of what happened to the drowned or the dead in the sea, but it can also go as far as explaining the confines of human sexuality and dependency.
For females selkies, it goes into a dual situation. On the first hand, the woman becomes the idol of a man, for legends of the Selkie state that women of these kind make wonderful wives. With that, the man would then steal the skin of the selkie and hide it, so that she can never leave and would have to bear his children as well as raising the family. Though there is love within these tales, the aggressive and undermining context still remains, where the woman has become trapped by the man, unable to make a choice of her own, no matter how much she wanted to go back to the sea. Even with love, she is being forced to stay and do what he wanted: to bear children and take care of everyone. Though sexist towards women, the tale takes a different route whenever she does find her skin. As a break of freedom, she swiftly abandons her children and leaves them to his stead, with fierce yearn for the sea again. Although variations tell that she returns every other year to see her children, this counteracts the male-dominated aspect of the legend. Comparitive to modern society, the female has the power to leave the children to the male, something not commonly seen today as men often leave the child with their mother.
As for the male-side, it becomes more of a sexual nature than an emotional one. As stated:
"The male members among the selkie folk were thought to have had many trysts with human females, married and unmarried. A selkie man in human form was a handsome creature with almost magical seductive powers over mortal women. These selkie-men had no qualms in shedding their skins, hiding them carefully, and heading inland, seeking illicit intercourse with an "unsatisfied woman". Selkie men sometimes beget children on mortal women, as in the folk song 'The Selkie of Sule Skerry'. After a period of seven years, the selkie returned to the woman to claim his son, but with tragic consequences (Selkie)."
This is sexist towards men, where sex is the main objective for the male variant of any species. But this sexism is only true in human society. The selkie only wanted sex and offspring; this is true in all of nature, where the male of any species live for the process of procreation. This is exactly what the male selkie represents, the force of nature's desires and needs. The tale of a man free of restriction of social stigmata and protocol entices the psychology of human sexuality, since for the male, there is no consequence upon his actions. This is where the legend becomes sexist towards women as well, showing male dominance. In these legends where there is a male selkie, it was always the male who had power, the alluring ability and seductive powers. They were the ones who had to relinquish women of their "burdens", cause them to bear him children, and he comes to take them away after a certain amount of time (Towney).
Within both of the variations, there are differieng sexist remarks. However, the legend itself is vastly male-dominated. Though the female selkie is beatiful and graceful, she becomes overtaken by a man with desires. When the woman becomes "unsatisfied" or widowed by the sea's wrath, it is the male selkie to take her pain away. The males in the legend play as villain and hero, both gender-differentials creating a bitter-sweet tale. Because in both tales, the man always gets what he wants, such as nature's will to get what it desires. Though there are redeeming qualities for the females, it is all for naught, since they ultimately suffer losses.
Citation
Townie, Sigurd. "The Origin of the Selkie-folk." Orkneyjar - The Heritage of the Orkney Islands. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. <http://www.orkneyjar.com/index.html>.
"The Selkie Folk.” The Selkie Folk. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://thecelts.fortunecity.com/selkie.html>.
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