skirtcafe.org

I have to wonder where androgenous males live. I never see them. I have to wonder if they exist only in the imaginations of fashion designers.

Yes, it does make you wonder how they picked the survey group.

The text specifically says millennials. I bet a lot of us, including me, are too old to hang out with that crowd.
Heck, I live in San Francisco where you might expect to see this phenomena, and I am practically the only nail polish wearing man I've ever seen.

The problem with wearing nail varnish is that manual jobs are hell for chipping the varnish. I normally have an administration type job but if I do any job around the house then it ruins the look. So, although I would like to wear varnish on my nails I don't bother. I have been doing a lot of household painting, decorating and repairs lately so having painted nails would have been impossible.

The article does not say that 14% of men wear nail varnish. It actually reads:

As many as 60 percent of men now use women’s skincare products, with 14 percent okaying nail polish, 18 percent foundation, and 12 percent eyeliner.

No indication of how many men wear nail polish, but a proportion that okayed it (whatever that means).

Personal (very unscientific) observation would suggest that 95% of men would either not notice or not object to other men wearing subtle nail polish, but that is a world away from wearing it themselves. Certainly the observed percentage of men with nail polish would be below 1% in my neck of the woods.

I reckon that article was written by a journalist who wanted a sensational spin while maintaining plausible deniability.

Have fun,


Ian.

I've known several men over the years who wore nail polish, but it was always clear and I didn't even notice until someone else mentioned it to me.

As to 60% of men using women's skin care products, I suppose that includes moisturizing lotion, which I use on my arms and legs twice a day to prevent psoriasis. I use a plain, unscientific, generic brand, though, and I never considered it feminine.

I tried it for a while, too much work. Especially the toes.

rick401r wrote:I tried it for a while, too much work. Especially the toes.

That's why nail salons were invented. Two per block in some parts of San Francisco. The competition keeps the price reasonable for a person with no other vices.
I have one person who does my nails most times I go. She does such a good job and the base price is so low that even with a 40% tip, the total cost is less than a cocktail in a nice bar.

Why would any guy want to wear nail polish?

I simply can't get my head around that one. I'm all for grooming - I wash, shave, comb my hair and occasionally yank out the odd unsightly nostril or other stray hair which has no business growing in or on my face, but that's about as far as I'm willing to go. Make-up and other types of "prettification" (made up word!) is for females, so far as I am concerned.

Stu

skirted_in_SF wrote:

rick401r wrote:I tried it for a while, too much work. Especially the toes.

That's why nail salons were invented. Two per block in some parts of San Francisco. The competition keeps the price reasonable for a person with no other vices.
I have one person who does my nails most times I go. She does such a good job and the base price is so low that even with a 40% tip, the total cost is less than a cocktail in a nice bar.

This.

Regular polish for the toes, but gel over acrylic for the fingernails - only thing that will stand up. But I never do "subtle" - in fact I need to make an appt. with the nail salon for tomorrow to re-do the fingernails. Right now its classic sparkle red, tomorrow PM, who knows what will strike my fancy?

Men can be "pretty" too!

Stu wrote:Why would any guy want to wear nail polish?

I simply can't get my head around that one. I'm all for grooming - I wash, shave, comb my hair and occasionally yank out the odd unsightly nostril or other stray hair which has no business growing in or on my face, but that's about as far as I'm willing to go. Make-up and other types of "prettification" (made up word!) is for females, so far as I am concerned.

It all comes down to personal preference and it's not necessarily a gender thing either; I know quite a few women who never wear nail polish or make-up.

Humans (regardless of gender) have decorated their bodies for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians did it; African tribesmen in ceremonial hunting attire; Indian men wear kohl on special occasions; British regency court fashion included make-up for men; etc, etc.

In our modern Western cultures, I think many men's reluctance to partake of 'prettification' is a complex legacy which includes influences from Puritan advocacy of plainness in dress, industrial working-class poverty and harsh conditions, Victorian stiff-upper-lippery, perhaps to name a few. There is beginning to be a ground swell of reaction against that which can be seen especially in young people's fashion choices. Also there are now brands of make-up and nail polish specifically targeted at men and which have now been around for a few years, so perhaps it is more than just a passing fashion phase.

Nail polish is nothing more than another means of self-expression; it's fun and trivial, but it can also be artistic too. If you like it, wear it. If not, then don't. It's as simple as that - there are no laws or rules about it (fortunately!)

(And yes, I like it - currently wearing mint green pearly nail polish on my toe nails. Will probably have silver polish on my finger nails this coming weekend)

Is it also a form of paranoia involved here? Men, in England and it's empire, were quite open about walking out arm in arm or embracing, without any fear of being labelled "queer" until a huge wave of paranoia followed the Oscar Wilde case. We skirts men are, I'm sure, labelled as such by people who don't know us, whether we are "straight" or "gay". Even such labelling is an anachronism in todays world. Nail polish on men just reinforces a prejudice in the ignorant. Nail polish is not my deal by any stretch of the imagination, but to judge negatively on such choice is to display a profound ignorance

Nail polish is nothing more than another means of self-expression; it's fun and trivial, but it can also be artistic too. If you like it, wear it. If not, then don't. It's as simple as that - there are no laws or rules about it (fortunately!)

You are quite right, Stevie, it's all a matter of personal choice and there are no laws about it.

I am certainly not criticising or demeaning those men who wish to wear these, but I was struggling to understand the desire to do so. I confess that I have the traditional masculine mindset on matters of appearance - the less time and effort I spend on how I look, the better I like it. I see my good lady patiently shaping, trimming and painting her fingernails, allowing them to dry, before moving on to her toes. Then there is the hair, make up and everything else - and I thank the God that I don't believe in that I am a bloke and never have to worry about such things.

Stu

a lot more men wear polish than what one would think. you just don't see it because alot of men don't wear open toe sandals. that and they are afraid to be different. I wear polish and I think it just looks better than bare. I don't wear it on my fingers because it would be trashed in no time, and that looks bad on anybody.

there's no law that says only women can wear it. in fact there were laws that a woman couldn't vote or work in certain jobs and social norms that they couldn't wear pants and a raft of other thing that thank god are gone. so what's the difference here? the difference is only a made up one fueled and generated by media and homophobia, and also a cultural bias against women being as good as a man. when they take on male behavior that's good. when a male does even the least feminine thing all holy hell rolls out that he's now less of a man. nonsense. just more made up crap that we oddly buy into. for what reason today I have no idea. but it's stupid to say the least.

a spot of color on any otherwise drab canvas never hurt anyone. it means nothing more than you like a bit of color. people can make up all sorts of stuff about a guy wearing polish and none of it would be true except that he doesn't mind being a bit different than everyone else.

folks get too rigid in their thinking. life is short. hurt no one else and be happy. live your own life, not someone else's idea of how to live your life. That's what freedom is all about.