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Nail Polish
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
It might seem like a non-political issue, but really it's a part of the very most important issue in life - procreation. Attraction, seduction, sexuality, status...
Specifically I wondered if there is a recognised reason why girls and women paint their nails. And more broadly, what do people think about the ways females have traditionally adorned/painted themselves, and what do girls here do, and what do boys here like - and why?
Is there a concensus on a bio-social cause of gender differences in display, or is it believed to be all 'nurture'?
Oh, I like the natural look and have quite a strong aversion to painted nails.
Specifically I wondered if there is a recognised reason why girls and women paint their nails. And more broadly, what do people think about the ways females have traditionally adorned/painted themselves, and what do girls here do, and what do boys here like - and why?
Is there a concensus on a bio-social cause of gender differences in display, or is it believed to be all 'nurture'?
Oh, I like the natural look and have quite a strong aversion to painted nails.
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Dammit, I'm wearing nail varnish. Ah well, plenty more fish in the sea.
lol
It's not really about seducing men although my boyfriend does like my nails. I do it for myself as I bit my nails for years and now I am proud to have natural long ones. Fake ones are vile.
Or maybe it's just a splash of colour?
I don't think that's quite how it works though. Surely the lady's painted their lips in attempt to be more attractive, and it was later theorised that they are more attractive because the painted lips look more like tinkles?
I don't mind what other people do, but sometimes it bugs me that there are certain procedures that one would have to go through to be considered beautiful or even just well groomed by society, especially when these things change with the fashions and so can't really measures of beauty at all.
Whatever the reason, I have to say I don't like all this "painting oneself culture". Natural is best.
I wear it because I think it looks pretty and neat n tidy.
I thought it was because when a woman is turned on her lips (as in her mouth lips) were sposed to flush with colour..so women who wear lippy look permanently turned on? hmmm
no. wrong.
http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/788/Schaffer06.html#fnB132
On the topic of nail polish, I paint mine from pure boredem. I end up picking most of it off within the next day anyways, hardly for the male purpose. Sometimes I do purple becaues I know the boyfriend hates purple nails
But I have to ask - WHY are they attractive to men when reddened - surely something in the animal drives...?
It's probably for the same reason as bodily adornment and modification happens in any culture, which is, IMHO, primarily as a means of communicating personal and social identity. Why do women paint their nails? Why do men in Papua New Guinea wear bones through their noses and penis gourds? Why do the Karen women in N. Thailand wear brass rings round their necks to elongate them? Why do a fair few African and South American tribes sport stretched lip piercings, sometimes of gigantic proportions? All for the same reason.
As for consensus... I doubt it. Personally I think it's environmental rather than biosocial...... just thinking about things like children who have been raised by animals and never develop a human identity (amongst other things).
AHAHAHA!
POTW!
I do believe that gender roles are socialised, I myself don't really associate with a gender although physically I am female and occasionaly (rarely) wear skirts or a dress to celebrate the female form. But then I don't really identify with 'woman-ness' very much, but I also don't feel like a man trapped inside my body (I am talking more about the spiritual and mental identification with gender, not about my body).
But I do feel that gender roles and many forms of labelling ad pigeonholing are potentially tools of oppression.
Painting your nails is a sign that usually means you take good care of yourself. Would a man rather date a women with painted nails that are taken care of, or a person with dirty broken unpainted nails? I think I made my point. Also some people just do it to quit the bad habit of biting their nails and people who where nail polish usually don’t have the habit of biting them. I don’t think people like the taste !
I dont paint my nails because I have no inclanation too, and my nails are in very good condition. You dont have to paint them to show you take good care of them. :yeees:
I don't paint my nails to attract men... I just like the way it looks. If I were physically male I would paint my nails, wear eye liner and the odd bit of lipstick too. It is just decorating yourself and self-expression, not a means of being a boy magnet.
I think men tend toward status display relative to other men, while women tend toward display which reveal their personal concern to beautify themselves.
I think this interplay is often confused - men think that driving a powerful car really does make them look like Brad Pitt, and women really do think that nail polish matters. Maybe it's the within-sex reinforcement mechanisms which perpetuates the madness?
Nah, that's because you're just looking at the nails themselves. Painted nails draw attention to the hands in the same way as jewellery like rings and bracelets. And nice hands most definitely are a feature that men find attractive on a girl.
Wouldn't brushing the well-prucked eyebrow (there's another!) with a well-turned out finger draw nought but positive attention, plus the added bonus of (possibly attractive) eyes, and a comely expression?