Hi, my name is CJ. I’m a guy. I’m happily married. I hand-model part-time.  And I would really
like to wear colored nail polish on my hands, pretty much full-time…colors such as Vise and
Shock Absorber from the BB Couture’s men’s collection.

 

I like color polish because I think my hands look good in certain colors, especially reds. No
other reason than that. It’s that simple.

 

So why, you ask, don’t I just paint my nails?  Who’s stopping you? The answers to those
questions are not that simple. True, there’s no law in this country prohibiting a man from
painting his finger or toe nails. And there’s not even a dress code in my place of employment
that bars it. Fact is, after I modeled BB Couture’s Vise polish for men Blog post  in a photo
session for overallbeauty.com, I went to a few stores to do some errands and
received nothing but compliments from several women who happened to see my hands.

 

 

Despite those compliments, most people in the region where I live aren’t comfortable with
it. Most people here would find it downright weird! Okay, so your next question would be, “Even if
people think it’s weird, why do you care what other people think?” So here’s the answer. For
starters, my wife is among those who would consider it inappropriate, although she is
comfortable with me wearing a non-glossy clear coat; something I need to protect my nails for
those times I’m called on to hand-model items such as office supplies and jewelry. I recently
told my wife that a certain company has been creating nail polish for men and that someday, I’d
like to try it. Her response, “You’ve got to be kidding me?” Of course, my wife has an arsenal of
nail polish colors, mostly reds, and wouldn’t be caught dead without color on her
nails. However, I would be dead if she caught me with red on my nails!
 

 Double-standard? You bet! But folks, the truth is, despite the blurring of gender lines over the
decades, there seems to be NO gray area for some people when it comes to guys wearing
colored nail polish.   For instance, I showed a few photos of my hands wearing Vise to some
women who know that I am a part-time hand model. I explained that I modeled the color for a
company that has a men’s line of nail polish. All of these women loved the color and they all
agreed that it looked great on my hands. But here’s a sampling of the responses I received:
 

 

“Why would any guy want to go to that trouble (of maintaining color polish on his nails)?”
 

 

“The world isn’t ready for it yet.”

 

“You definitely have the hands for it. Your hands are like a woman’s. But nail polish is for
women, not men. I can deal with seeing photos of it, but to see it on you in person? Something
would be wrong with that picture!”

 

“What about your self-respect? Didn’t you feel weird wearing it?” (This coming from a woman
wearing bright red nail polish).

 

I didn’t get into a debate with these women for obvious reasons. But allow me to step up on my
soap box and tell you how I feel.

 

First, regarding the “self-respect” comment from the woman wearing red polish, my opinion is
that she’s demeaning her own gender. She’s sending women back to the dark ages. For over a
century, women have been fighting for gender equality, and their fight is far from over. But her
implication reinforces gender stereotypes; that it’s “weird”and self-defacing for a guy to wear
something traditionally worn by women. What’s does that say about women?   It also smacks
of a double-standard. It’s okay for woman to play organized sports like ice hockey and
basketball; sports once considered “appropriate” for men only. It’s okay for women to wear the
team apparel of their favorite men’s professional sports team. And it’s perfectly acceptable for a
woman to wear a tie. But it’s NOT acceptable for a man to wear colored nail polish. That
equation doesn’t add up.

 

Addressing the remark about the “trouble” of maintaining nail polish. Because I’ve been
wearing clear coat over a base coat for about 15 years, I know this to be true. There is the
weekly maintenance of removing and reapplying the products. However, isn’t it worth the
trouble? It’s certainly worth it to me. Why wouldn’t a guy aspire to keep his nails nice too?
 

 

Further to this issue, allow me go back to sports. When I was a kid, there were NO organized
sports for girls or women. Once day, after playing a Little League game (I was 12 at the time)
three girls from my neighborhood came up to me and asked me how it feels to hit a baseball to
the fence…how it feels to catch a line-drive…how it feels to wear a uniform. I told them that it
feels great. They then admitted to me that they wished they could experience the same. I’m not
saying that I was a pioneer in women’s rights, but I can honestly tell you that I understood
where they were coming from…that there was no reason why they shouldn’t enjoy the thrill of
playing baseball as I did. As soon as the Little League season ended, we neighborhood boys
would take over the two local fields, playing pick-up games. At that time, I invited the three girls
to play with us. But first, I practiced with them…playing catch, pitching them batting practice,
etc. I even showed them how to build up their arm and wrist strength with light weights: the
same exercise I was doing at the time. The point being that, yes, it’s a lot of “trouble” to play
baseball. But it was worth it for me and it was worth it for those three girls too.  Same holds true
for ice hockey. As a former hockey player, I can tell you that it takes “forever” in the locker room
to cover your body with layers of protective equipment before taking the ice for practices and
games. Plus, hockey requires the time commitment of serious physical conditioning during
both the season and off-season. But ask anybody, former or current hockey player, male or
female, if all the “trouble” is worth it. I’ll bet they will respond affirmatively.
 

      

 

 

Now, for the woman who told me I “have the hands” that can carry off wearing nail polish but
she would not want to see me wearing it to work. Okay, I am blessed with what most people
consider “pretty hands.” In fact some people tell me that are “too nice to be belong to a guy.” I
consider myself very fortunate to have this physical asset as it has helped me earn some extra
money modeling and it’s pleasing in my full-time job where my hands are in front of me typing a
good part of my work day. That said, I feel that anybody, male or female, with any type of hands
should be able to wear colored nail polish. It shouldn’t be a select gender or a select hand type
that is entitled to wear nail polish. Everybody should be able to. Granted, my wearing colored
nail polish does make my hands look more feminine. While that’s not what I’m striving for, it is
what it is. And so what if my hands look “feminine” with colored polish? Is that supposed to be
a weakness?   And the issue of not seeing me wearing it in person? I’d have colored nail
polish on my hands, not a dead rat for goodness sakes!   I don’t see what’s wrong with that
picture!

 

And for “the world isn’t ready for it” comment. That’s correct. It’s not. So far, I’ve been
addressing women’s reactions, but I’ll tell you this, if I ever showed up for a softball game
wearing colored nail polish, I’d get ridiculed from pillar to post from the guys on my team, not to
mention my game opponents. Most men are like that. To them, a guy doing anything "feminine"
is an assault on their manhood: a mental castration. I wouldn’t dare show them any of my Vise
modeling photos! So please don’t get the idea that I’m being critical of women here.   Most guys
would cringe in horror at even the thought of me wearing colored nail polish. Fortunately, I doubt
any guy has detected me wearing clear; otherwise, I would have surely been called on the
carpet for it by now.

 

As much as this seems a sob story, I’m not looking for pity. Fact is, I have plenty to be thankful
for: my family, my health, a great job…the list goes on. And in all fairness to society, guys
actually are “permitted” to wear things that used to be considered taboo for their sex. Once of
these items is bracelets. Back when I was a kid, men didn’t wear them. Now I have one to wear
for each day of the week. Ear rings is another, although I don’t wear one. Anyway, you get the
point; we have come a long way in terms of acceptance. And I think this acceptance has helped
the nation’s economy. Think about all the sports equipment being manufactured these days
because of girls and women’s sports. Think about all the gyms that are operating these
days. Back when I was a teenager, gyms were far and few between; only open to men who
wanted to do heavy weight-lifting to bulk up. Now most of the gyms are uni-sex with men and
women doing the same exercise programs such as aerobics, Spinning, Pilates, etc. In fact, all
the fitness classes I take are led by women. And the training I receive is far more beneficial
then what I was getting in the “men only” gyms decades ago.
 

 

Getting back to nails, my manicurist recently told me that if it weren’t for all her male clients, her
salon would have closed long ago. In fact, she said she’d love for men to wear colored nail
polish because it would increase her business twofold. I think that’s one of the reasons she
was totaled psyched to paint my nails with Vise for my photo session for overallbeauty.com –
perhaps with the hope that men’s nail polish will become mainstream.
 

 

 

In summation, I hope that in my lifetime I’ll be able to wear colored polish on my finger nails;
something most women enjoy every day.  Again, there is nothing currently stopping me from
doing that – other than the fact that I’d upset some people, most importantly my wife.  Maybe
colored nail polish will soon become mainstream, much the way bracelets, ear rings, pink
shirts, etc. have. In the meantime, I commend the folks at BB Couture for going out on a limb
and creating color polish for men; recognizing the fact that there are guys out there who want to
wear it on their toes and fingers. That alone is a big step in the right direction of acceptance!
 

My name is CJ and this was my story.. Now guys do you have a story to tell? Contact Kim
and tell her yours. Maybe you will be like me and be given a place to say my piece without
fear of being laughed at.
 

"What I was saying is that Kim is right about having fun with the 
pedicure and the colors.  Sometimes I take a few colors to the salon and 
I will pick out a primary color and the tech picks the color for the 
tips.  Sometimes we plot a color scheme together.  Since there are so 
many colors to choose from it is fun to use two at once instead of one
 color.  One day a lady next to me could not make up her mind between two
 colors so the tech and I suggested she go with one primary and the other
 on the tips.  She liked that idea. The object of this is to have fun,
 right?"

Thanks Frank!