Since the dawn of time, humans have been enthralled with the concept of monsters. According to Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s essay, “Monster Culture (Seven Theses),” monsters disrupt social categories, which in turn brings out human anxieties, as monsters are often desired and revered just as much as they are feared. Sirens in particular create such an uproar because they depict women breaking from the expected norms of being a virginal “good girl” who submits to the patriarchal expectations of society, while also serving as a fetishized creature for men to lust after without guilt. Stories of sirens became cautionary tales, painting lust and sensuality in a negative light and shaming women who showcased these characteristics, while completely glossing over the role played by the men that allowed sirens to commit their alleged crimes in these fables. 

The rhetoric and mythology that surrounds sirens mirrors the way society views and treats women. Women exist in the gray area; they live somewhere between the ‘siren’ —alluring and immoral— and the ‘picture-perfect’ female —hyper-feminine and innocent—, constantly trying to maintain the delicate balance between these dichotomies.