Thoughts on boys with painted nails

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 yo son lets his best friend paint his nails and give him makeovers when she comes to sleep over. He also dresses up with her and they pretend their having a fashion show (she also enjoys playing video games, having burp contests and wrestling with him). He enjoys it and isn't one to care what others think so I'm happy for him.

They're, slight typo

[Anonymous]

To me, it’s not about the nail polish, it’s about how you chose to respond. He probably will outgrow liking nail polish, but he will always know you to have been supportive and accepting of what he likes and to never shame him for that. And that matters.

[Anonymous]

About as concerning as girls wearing pants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was having my nails done today when my 5 year old son asked if boys can have their nails painted too. I told him it's not really for boys but if he wanted to try it I would paint his nails for him. On our way home we stopped and picked out some blue nail polish, his favorite color. It was fun watching him get excited over nail polish. He sat on the bed giddy about having his nails done. When I was finished I painted his toes to match. He was so excited he called his grandparents and told them all about it. My husband rolled his eyes and shook his head about this. Let me be clear this was for fun only. I'm not trying to feminize my son.

This is a bit off topic, but your son and his friend sound like awesome and fun kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was having my nails done today when my 5 year old son asked if boys can have their nails painted too. I told him it's not really for boys but if he wanted to try it I would paint his nails for him. On our way home we stopped and picked out some blue nail polish, his favorite color. It was fun watching him get excited over nail polish. He sat on the bed giddy about having his nails done. When I was finished I painted his toes to match. He was so excited he called his grandparents and told them all about it. My husband rolled his eyes and shook his head about this. Let me be clear this was for fun only. I'm not trying to feminize my son.

This is a bit off topic, but your son and his friend sound like awesome and fun kids

Oops wrong one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 10 yo son lets his best friend paint his nails and give him makeovers when she comes to sleep over. He also dresses up with her and they pretend their having a fashion show (she also enjoys playing video games, having burp contests and wrestling with him). He enjoys it and isn't one to care what others think so I'm happy for him.

They're, slight typo

This is a bit off topic, but your son and his friend sound like awesome and fun kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:About as concerning as girls wearing pants.

+1

Can anyone articulate why nail polish is not for boys?

[Anonymous]

establishing norms of masculine behavior makes for a stable, and thus safe, society.

weak men make for bad times
bad times make for strong men
strong men make for good times
good times make for weak men

love and support your sons. celebrate the strength and goodness of masculinity. The abridgement of gender norms has left us with a society of institutionally raised children, fatherless murderers, and attention-craved-easily-seduced adults.

We should always accept every human as divinely-inspired and worthy of love. However, we should hold them accountable for their behavior (hate the sin, love the sinner).

If our grand-children are to live in peace and harmony we need to return the core of our societies to one of two-parent masculine & feminine protector/provider nurturer/advocate households.

Children are malleable through puberty and into early adulthood (mid-20's). People who love them should encourage them to conform the the gender norms of their physical sex. This will result in the most good for the most people. Those who make it to adulthood can live as they will, and be loved as humans regardless.

A society without a core of dyad-centered families will necessarily have functions of the family replaced by the soul-less state, which feeds itself and grows like a leviathan. That form, has killed more humans, and crushed more spirits, than any form of "oppressive patriarchy", and will do so in greater numbers as the population grows and technology allows for leveraged control of individuals.

Without gender norms, "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s totally fine.

Of course it’s fun for him to do it.

My son used to like to paint his toenails when he was little until some kid made fun of him. Probably raised by a fool like the PP.

Boys figure out they aren’t supposed to like this stuff. It’s not like they inherently don’t like it because they are boys.

True. My son is 9, and decided around age 5 or 6 that he didn't want to paint his toenails anymore because he didn't want anyone to see. No big deal.

This isn't a situation (like the other pp says) in which we must show the world who's boss by banning boys nail polish. That's ridiculous.

Op, the thing to consider is how to handle it when other people say something about it. You can tell him no, thereby protecting him from being picked on. Or you can allow it but prepare him for what to say when someone tells him it's girly (etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About as concerning as girls wearing pants.

+1

Can anyone articulate why nail polish is not for boys?

It's not inherently wrong for boys. But when boys wear nail polish, other people (adults and kids especially) will make comments that will make the kid feel like it's wrong.That's all it is. I let my son wear it and choose other girly things as a toddler/preschooler. But eventually he learned those things are for girls only. Why? Because societal norms won out, and nail polish or pink rain boots aren't important enough to take a stand for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:establishing norms of masculine behavior makes for a stable, and thus safe, society.

weak men make for bad times
bad times make for strong men
strong men make for good times
good times make for weak men

love and support your sons. celebrate the strength and goodness of masculinity. The abridgement of gender norms has left us with a society of institutionally raised children, fatherless murderers, and attention-craved-easily-seduced adults.

We should always accept every human as divinely-inspired and worthy of love. However, we should hold them accountable for their behavior (hate the sin, love the sinner).

If our grand-children are to live in peace and harmony we need to return the core of our societies to one of two-parent masculine & feminine protector/provider nurturer/advocate households.

Children are malleable through puberty and into early adulthood (mid-20's). People who love them should encourage them to conform the the gender norms of their physical sex. This will result in the most good for the most people. Those who make it to adulthood can live as they will, and be loved as humans regardless.

A society without a core of dyad-centered families will necessarily have functions of the family replaced by the soul-less state, which feeds itself and grows like a leviathan. That form, has killed more humans, and crushed more spirits, than any form of "oppressive patriarchy", and will do so in greater numbers as the population grows and technology allows for leveraged control of individuals.

Without gender norms, "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever".

At first I was like 🥴🥴🥴

But then I kept reading and I am now laughing so hard. This hysterical absurdity is just what I needed. Thank you for the lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:About as concerning as girls wearing pants.

+1

Can anyone articulate why nail polish is not for boys?

It's not inherently wrong for boys. But when boys wear nail polish, other people (adults and kids especially) will make comments that will make the kid feel like it's wrong.That's all it is. I let my son wear it and choose other girly things as a toddler/preschooler. But eventually he learned those things are for girls only. Why? Because societal norms won out, and nail polish or pink rain boots aren't important enough to take a stand for.

Once my son wore pink flip flops when he was like 5, and a girl his age said “why are you wearing girl shoes?” And just son just laughed and laughed like it was the funniest joke. And when she laughed again, he said “these aren’t girl shoes. They’re my shoes. My mom bought them for me.” And the girl said “oh” and went on her way. It was no big deal.

When he was in second he wore pink pants to school and came home and was irritated that kids made fun of him for it. I had warned him that people have this weird idea that pink is for girls and they might tease him for it, so he wasn’t surprised. Now he wears his pink pants at home. I love it that he realizes that it’s a weird arbitrary societal rule and the fact that people teased him didn’t mean he did something wrong, just that people have this weird idea about the color pink. He still wears pink shirts though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:establishing norms of masculine behavior makes for a stable, and thus safe, society.

weak men make for bad times
bad times make for strong men
strong men make for good times
good times make for weak men

love and support your sons. celebrate the strength and goodness of masculinity. The abridgement of gender norms has left us with a society of institutionally raised children, fatherless murderers, and attention-craved-easily-seduced adults.

We should always accept every human as divinely-inspired and worthy of love. However, we should hold them accountable for their behavior (hate the sin, love the sinner).

If our grand-children are to live in peace and harmony we need to return the core of our societies to one of two-parent masculine & feminine protector/provider nurturer/advocate households.

Children are malleable through puberty and into early adulthood (mid-20's). People who love them should encourage them to conform the the gender norms of their physical sex. This will result in the most good for the most people. Those who make it to adulthood can live as they will, and be loved as humans regardless.

A society without a core of dyad-centered families will necessarily have functions of the family replaced by the soul-less state, which feeds itself and grows like a leviathan. That form, has killed more humans, and crushed more spirits, than any form of "oppressive patriarchy", and will do so in greater numbers as the population grows and technology allows for leveraged control of individuals.

Without gender norms, "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever".

What does this have to do with nail polish?

Does the nail polish itself weaken your muscles? If so, I need to stop.

[Anonymous]

With 2 sisters, my son has painted nails at least half the time.

And my husband and I love getting pedicures together and he lets me choose a crazy color which the kids love.

I can't imagine why this is even something to wring your hands about...

[Anonymous]

Who gives a s%&t?

It's a 5 year old who wants to have fun with color.

And FWIW, 42yo male with an 12yo son who who often paint nails, dye his hair and wear jewelry (he still wears a lot of bracelets and necklaces)

Just let the kid be a kid. Color is fun. Don't overthink