Can we start an anti "nail" campaign?

[2rebecca]

As a GP who frequently washes her hands, allotment owner and instrument player I really hate the trend for women to have immaculate nails that cost a fortune, scratch people and mean women can't do anything useful. Where t f did this horrible trend come from and how do we give women back the use of their wonderful hands?

Reminds me of the old sketch about the racist policemam arresting a black man "for possession of an offensive wife."

A woman with long nails for years, writes about the things she struggles to do.

www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/beauty/a53074/15-super-annoying-things-you-cant-do-with-long-nails/

*What would there be to say. Men's nails are overwhelmingly natural"

Well, some men like to keep their nails short, straight and tidy, with non straggly bits/hang nails. Some men dont care or don't mind. At no point did the OP say that men who take care of thier nails are not able to do anything useful. Nor has anyone said that men who take care of thier nails are shallow and question who they are doing it for. But this has been said about women, on this thread.

I appreciate what you are saying about advertising and the influence it has on telling women to buy stuff they don't need, or telling women they can only be 'beautiful' if they buy x product. And i agree, there is a ridiculous expectation of women 'should' look like. But that's completely different to shaming women who choose to buy these things or telling them that they are not feminsts because they like to look a different way to you.

I dislike extremely long nails, whether they're natural or real, as I feel they are unhygenic and they look a bit OTT. Nicely manicured nails can look very attractive, whether short or medium length, it's the very long, talon like nails that I don't like. That said, I'm sure it's possible to keep long nails clean, and also possible for short nails to be dirty, it's all a matter of personal hygiene.

It's just a matter of personal choice, unless you are working in certain areas like medicine or catering, where there are rules and guidelines to protect patients/customers.

"They discovered that nurses with artificial nails had more bacteria on their fingertips than did those with natural nails, both before and after handwashing....

Similar studies published in 2000 and 2002 yielded similar results. But by then, nursing researchers had evidence that artificial nails were also associated with poor handwashing practices, which only served to compound the problem. And artificial nails, they realized, were also more likely to tear disposable gloves."

www.bbc.com/future/story/20160622-what-lives-under-your-fingernails

• and mean women can't do anything useful.

make it more difficult for women to actually do anything useful!

those hideous coloured talons are a useful marker for “probably shallow non feminist woman with whom I’d have nothing in common”, so quite handy really!

You can’t cook, garden, do basic childcare like changing nappies or have any hand hygiene to a fairly basic standard if you have on fake nails.

are women just there to look pretty or are we able to contribute a bit more than that by actually working with our hands??

I find it weird/confronting/off putting when I see women with inch long talons (it’s usually ethnic minorities to be perfectly frank though I’ll get strung up for saying so). My impression is that it’s intended to look threatening - and it is.

just looks wrong on woman wearing jeans and a T-shirt - fine if they are dressed up to go out but not on a rainy Saturday afternoon in the ballpark.*

Comments from the OP and other supporting her stance. As far as I'm concerned it's them ridiculing,shaming,shunning and belittling women. Reducing women and their lives and careers to the length of their nails.

You seriously find this comments feminist OP?

Long nails on women do set my teeth on edge I wonder, too, how they can use a keyboard! When I first saw a nail studio several years ago I rolled my eyes it'll never work, I thought, whoever would go there, nails are such a minor thing! Obviously, I was wrong...

I went to a nail studio myself for the first time last year -- I am very bad at shaping my own nails, which are short but unevenly filed down because I care so little. But with my daughter's wedding coming up...
so, for the first time, I went, I was horrified by the toxic fumes in the place; I could not breathe. The poor woman who did my nails! She tried to get me to put varnish on them but I refused. Just had them nicely filed and then I was out of there.

I have long perfectly manicured acrylic nails, I have small hands and they make them feel more elegant and show the jewellery I like to wear, which are often larger statement pieces, off in a way that would look ridiculous on my natural nails.
I’m meticulous about hygiene, wash my hands multiple times a day, and use a nail brush each time.
I have two degrees and a very good career so I would like to think it hasn’t prevented me from doing anything useful.
I also ‘totter’ about on (get ready to clutch those pearls tighter) 5 inch heels with absolute ease.
For what it’s worth I’ve never unwittingly scratched a random person, or myself with my dastardly talons. My partner however loves it when I scratch them down his back. HTH 💅🏼

I have psoriasis, my nails flake and are weak. So I have gels, they don't damage the nail underneath but mean I can (depending on the arthritis) cook, sew, type,knit and crochet without splitting my nails.

Men aren't expected to have long, beautiful, decorative, coloured nails.

And yet my male carer is currently sporting a metallic silver / gray with one pinkish red nail, this makes a change from black which he usually favours.

David Bowie, Penn Jillette, Jonny Depp, James Masters , Ozzy Osbourne, Seal, Zac Efron, Brad Pitt... Nope men never have their nails done.

This isn't a new trend . I'm around 60 and long painted nails have always been fashionable for some women. There will always be people who like them long and those who don't. It's not like "back in the day" everyone had solid hard-working hands - it's just always been a personal preference to either have long or short ones, painted or plain. .

Katesmott It will be fine for every day purposes. But the link I posted talks about research into nurses with long acrylic nails which shows that they have more bacteria on their hands after they have washed them, than those without acrylic nails. This is nurses who will have been taught proper handwashing techniques.

I think there is a feminist issue her. Very long nails do interfere with every day life. But there is also a class element, so there is also snobbery in the mix.

Bird It is new. Yes some women have always had longer nails, but they were their own nails. It is almost impossible for most women to have the ultra long nails naturally. It is really only possible to have such ultra long nails with false nails for nearly all women.

I love my nails and my nail polish.

And I can still use my wonderful hands to do whatever the fuck I want.

Go away. Stop policing other women.

I am 37. When I was I my twenties and working in an office I would say about 90% of the women had arcyrlic nails.

I work in a large office and work with all the departments. Women with long or even painted nails are at a minimum. I dont think it is more popular now.

I also definitely dont think it's to do with the rise of porn. In my experience, most men really dont give a shit if their girlfriends nails are done or not.

Not one person has ever said anything about me not always having mine painted. I keep mine short because of kick boxing. All the women there do. They don't let you fight with long nails. Because it's dangerous. That is the only time anyone ever even considers my nails.

But plenty of my friends dont kick box, so no one gives a shit. Why would kick boxing (or open heart surgery, or building work) be relevant to them, if they arent interested in it anyway. If there was proof lots of women do not go into surgery, or building etc because they think they have to have long nails so choose their job based on their nails, you may have a point.

The only issue I have around nails, are the cheap ones that have people working in poor conditions, for very little pay and often people here illegally. That's expoiltation. Tends to be mainly women working in them around here. But that's not all salons and a different converstation.

In that vein i am also very concerned about the number of cheap hand car washes, mainly staffed by men in similar situations.

Again, a different converstation.

Wanting to start a campaign or judging a woman's personality or usefulness on what she wants to do with her nails, is pure misogyny.

Unfortunately there has always been a small but very vocal group of feminists that are definitely misogynist. They love to judge other women.

Marketing nail products does not tell us we must get our nails done. It tells us these products are available if you want to.

If you are concerned about how products are marketed, tackle that. Rather than start a campaign to judge women.

BirdIt is new

What do you consider new. My nana (who would be in her 90s) and these stickers you put under your nail, then you sculpted a false nail using the sticker. When the product was dry you would peel off the sticker from under the nail and be left with a long nail. My mum remembers her doing this in the 60s. My aunties all wore press on nails in late 80 and 90s.

I had a set if acrylics done for a holiday in 2000.

So you consider that new?

Many activities are unisex but I do see high heels and long immaculate talons as fitting in to the "women as useless decorative ornaments" category wow, just wow. Feminism at its best, calling certain women ‘useless’ for exerting their right to choose what the fuck they can wear.

I'm not convinced that long artificial nails stop you from doing anything useful. My teenaged DGD has really long false nails and she easily uses her hands for everything she needs - not gardening I'll admit, but everything else ! I fail to see why anyone would want to make a protest about something which is purely personal.

Holdthedamneddoor that is exactly what I was talking about. The OP was suggesting that long artificial nails are a "trend", ie something new and fashionable. I was simply mentioning that long nails are not a new thing at all.

Birdie6 yep and someone linked it with the rise of porn earlier as well.

I think the first products started in 40, maybe 30s. A quick Google should confirm. I dont call something 80 year old new.

And like I said press on nails were all the rage in the late 80s.

Maybe some people do consider that new.

Holdthedamndoor Yes I do consider 2000 being new. Maybe a sign of being old?
The press on nails with stickers were never as long from what I can remember as some acrylic nails now. They were the length of long natural nails.

The only time I wore artificial acrylic nails, I felt like my nails could not breathe. It felt very uncomfortable. Like having a cast on a broken limb on a hot summers day. I was glad when they came off and I felt as if my nails could "breathe" again.

jennymanara no they definitely werent.

I remember at a BBQ my auntie picking up a jacket potato, by her long press on nails. Think she was clever as it was hot. The nails melted.

I definitely remember my auntie hai g long press on nails.

Just had a quick Google. And actually having stuff stuck to you nails and making them longer goes back to Egyptian culture and Roman times.

That's really not new.

Okay, I take your word for it. I don't remember seeing very long press on nails in the past Although can I check, how long ago are you talking about?

Holdthedamneddoor they were invented in 1954 by a dentist who broke his nail and made himself a replacement out of dental products. He and his brother produced nails commercially under the name Patti Nails. ( thanks Google) So it's been about 65 years.

@jennymanara it also says That’s not to say that they were actually transferring more bacteria to their patients, necessarily, only that the bacteria living on their fingertips were more numerous which would infer further study is needed before reaching a conclusion with regards to the impact of acrylic nails on HCP’s.

However I agree that in a healthcare setting nails should be kept short as there is no way of guaranteeing the best hygiene practices are adhered to by all. I’m not a HCP however so happy to go about my life with my nails. I don’t see it as a feminist issue I’m afraid and can happily state that thus far it’s had no negative impact on my everyday life.