To think you can’t take a man with painted nails seriously?

[ThisSunnyBiscuit]

I know people say “it’s just nail polish” but I can’t help feeling like a man with painted nails instantly loses credibility. Whether it’s in a corporate setting or just in everyday life, it gives off a certain vibe that makes it hard to take him seriously.

It’s not about being closed-minded, it’s just that some things don’t translate well across genders. Am I being unreasonable or do others feel the same?

Some of them are probably men.

i am sure the men doing so are doing it so you find them attractive

My late DH used to paint his nails occasionally, usually midnight blue. It looked fine. Essentially it depends why someone has done this - if it's part of pretending to be a woman they can go do one. I have no patience with gender woo.

I voted YABU. Policing what the genders can wear is what got us into this whole mess with trans rights vs women's rights.

Why does heterosexual masculinity mean credibility to you OP? Why do you idealise the straight male mind and assume it’s the correct and proper way to be?

Maybe think about that.

what a sad state of affairs, to judge other people's joyful expression!

its fucking nail polish, get over it

deary me....

I hate it and see it more and more on tv

Hmmm. Interesting question that has got me thinking.
I guess that it pisses me off that we've had lifetimes of being judged by men on how we should be, with men holding the power balance.
Perhaps I feel like men are becoming more challenged by women and they need to settle down a bit and give us room to breathe.
Very hard to articulate how I feel.
Almost like it's a childish tit for tat, maybe. Maybe that's too strong...

God, half of these responses are so depressing.

Nothing wrong with a man in nail polish, though I do get a bit envious if they can do it better than me 🤣

Yup, this is so true.

I just wonder why men would want to wear nail varnish, it seems like an enormous faff to me - mind you I wonder more why women would want huge nails that must make doing anything impossible.

I don't like men who are appearance obsessed, if it's a bit of badly applied black nail varnish that's one thing. If they're having a full manicure then it's a no from me. It's less about 'not taking them seriously' though and more just not finding it attractive. It's just a very superficial thing so it wouldn't bother me if we were just working together.

I don't think it's gender conformity. Most men just aren't interested. It's not because they feel they can't..

Agreed. It looks ridiculous at any age.

The daily mail readers out in force again

Same. It would turn me off. But depending on the polish, I might assume that he’s got a little dd who had a set of children’s nail polishes for her birthday and wanted to do everybody’s nails. That’s the only reason I’ve ever seen nail polish on SiL or DH, anyway!

I do understand this feeling. Like, our bullshit is bullshit, hair and skin and nails and frocks, but it’s OUR bullshit and men coming in and just doing it it feels disrespectful to the horrifying cage that hair and skin and nails and frocks is. You can’t DABBLE in this shit mateys, these are all the symbols of our oppression!

On the other hand, while feeling possessive of our victimhood is I reckon totally understandable, it’s also I reckon quite mad, and I try to catch myself when I feel it creeping in.

Or that’s what I think about it anyway.

Indeed. My mate who not only managed a goth club, ran and djed the goth night, is now a head of his dept teacher. I would suspect he even teaches some of the kids of people on here!

YABU.
I think it kind of looks cool, and good on them for wearing it if they like it.
Definitely not out of the ordinary in my eyes!

I also like eyeliner on a man too. Billie Jo Armstrong style
Helllll yeah ♥️♥️
Although my mind's thinking Hook from Once Upon A Time as well as Billy Jo Armstrong

This exactly. Let people express themselves how they want.

Enormous faff for women as well? Or just men?

personally I think a lot of what is seen as normal “self care”, or “grooming”, “polishing” for women is an enormous faff.

Make up
hair cuts and colours
nails- fingers and toes
waxing/shaving/hair removal
eyebrows
lashes
botox/fillers

an enormous time and cost investment.

and funnily enough a woman turning up at work with no make up, unmanicured nails and hairy legs would be judged as much as man turning up in make up and nail varnish.

I agree. That is the MAJORITY. I’ve tried to raise my 4 yo DD fairly gender neutrally but she’s naturally gravitated towards princess dresses and sparkles and unicorns. That’s just who she is and of course I’m fine with that. The large majority of kids gravitate more towards stereotypically gendered things that match their gender. Not ALL do though, myself included. It’s important to recognise and make space for those who don’t rather than mocking and shaming them, thereby enforcing the belief that they can’t be the sex they are if they don’t like stereotypically feminine or masculine things. This is what’s driving people to reject the sex they were born as and try to “change” it!

I think it’s also important to recognise though that it may not be “naturally” gravitating to gender stereotypes.

if’s pervasive and insidious. Even if you as a parent think you’re raising them neutrally, friends, nursery, people on the street, tv, all send these messages.

my dd would get stopped on the street as a toddler by strangers asking why my “son” was wearing a dress. Because in nearly everybody’s mind, short hair means male.

remember pink used to be a boy colour. In the USA football is only for girls. How can boys “naturally” like pink years ago, or only “naturally” like soccer if they live in a certain country?

watch this- these people thought they had no gender bias and treat boys and girls the same, and were surprised by the result:

I actually like it, but each to their own.

Beautifully put!