nail polish for boys!
Bitch PhD makes two great points in the same long post:
First, in response to Newsweek’s story on boys: “the problems boys are having in school stem from the problems all children are having in schools that are turning, more and more, to invariable, rote curricula.”
Second, and more important: “Boys too can paint their nails.”
Oh, and go read the long version of the Onion’s interview with Dan Savage– it’s got goodies the print version omits, about politics, copyediting, the ethical responsibility of an advice columnist, and how he got into the business in the first place.
February 12th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Gus loves nail polish, he has a blue bottle and a pink. Of course this is not from me but from his best friend at school who is a boy. They are all so wonderfully ungendered at this age, I love it. I will be sad when he no longer wants to paint his nails (even if the smell of it makes me retch).
February 17th, 2006 at 11:46 am
[...] And speaking of preschoolers, reading Steve’s post on nail polish for boys (and the Bitch PhD* post and Newsweek article it links to, which I am too lazy to link to here so head on over to Steve + Jessie’s if yr interested) has got me thinking. Recently I’ve been saddened to notice that the gender-neutral utopia of the preschool set looks to be coming to an end. The tomboy stuff is ever-endearing, of course (I’m still a tomboy myself): one little girl we know has the coolest shirt with tools printed all over. But I love the girly-boy stuff the best. Gus specifically requested pink and blue nail polish last year, not because he wanted to be like the girls but because his best boy buddy was wearing some. This year that buddy told a girl in their class that she couldn’t like dinosaurs, only boys could. Kind of hilarious coming from a boy in a pink and purple powerpuff girls hat. [...]
December 1st, 2006 at 7:18 pm
I am 19, and I paint my nails, and I am straight, and girls on college just loves it, my friends respects me cuz they think I am free minded …
Emo rox
October 17th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
yo you right that boys could wear nail polish.Not just Girls.
November 11th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Sure, why shouldn’t guys paint their nails? The male species is the more colorful in nature, so guys should go ahead and show a little color!
I paint my toenails on a regular basis - mostly browns, silvers, gold and sometimes dark burgundy (my g/f chose that one).
I have not ventured into painting my fingernails because it requires too much maintenance, and I don’t like the way they look chipped and peeling (sound familiar girls?). Besides, my fingernails are short and I think that even girls with short nails shouldn’t paint them.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:59 am
well boys n girls i am an almost 40 yo guy and i still paint my nails - finger and toe - in fact i just finished one hand while reading these posts. i keep them short and neat and yes it does take a little up-keep, but it IS worth it. i favour blues and greens with a clear top coat (most important for up-keep) or a glitter top coat followed by a clear top coat. i find sally hansen clear base coats and top coats to be awesome. for 4 years i had a cafe where i served all types of people in sydney australia and i always had my painted nails on display. who cares what others think? if that is you, go for it! for the boys who’re serious about this - here’s the steps: wash, clean, cut, file, moisturise, treat cuticle, trim cuticle, wash, moisturise, base coat, dry, colour, dry, colour again, dry, glitter coat, dry, glitter coat, dry, top coat, dry, top coat dry, enjoy, wave back and forth in powerful light and enjoy. do we all accept people like me here in australia? erm no not exactly but we’re working on it. are we fabulous here all the same? yes! come visit you’ll see!
December 8th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
I think that guys who are open-minded enough to wear their nails polished are the type we need more of! Who says it’s only for girls? I think girls that are daring enough to paint their guy’s nails are livin’ in 2008, not the past. I painted my guy friend’s toenails last week and we both think they look awesome! C’mon, forget the people that can’t handle anything outside of their ‘box’, live a little and have some fun!
December 29th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I have noticed that guys are taking better care of their feet and hands these days. Maybe the proffesional world demands that their hands don’t look like they are ‘common laborers’, but the number of men getting manicures and pedicures is definitely up.
I am a proffesional working in an office with many women and a few other men. One of the women encouraged me to get a maincure and pedicure a while back, saying that I would really like it. I did try it and she was right, it was a very enjoyable experience.
When it comes to nail polish, I don’t feel comfortable wearing it on my fingers because it looks too shiny and requires quite a bit of upkeep. However, I have found that there are types of nail products that can help repair or correct nail problems like splitting and breaking, and I have tried those on my toenails. They really do work! In fact, one advantage of a pedicure is that ingrown nails are pretty much eliminated.
I even went so far as to try a colored polish on my toes, after one woman I work with suggested it. It was summer, my feet were tan and we were at a party together. I did go along and let her paint them a darker color of maroon and it looked pretty good, so I continued to wear it for a while. She really liked it, so I guess it didn’t bother me at all. I intend to try other colors to see what works and what might look too girlish.