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Nail Polish

Former MemberFormer 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.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hahahahahahahahahaha
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    XXXX wrote: »
    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.

    Dammit, I'm wearing nail varnish. Ah well, plenty more fish in the sea.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Dobbin wrote: »
    Dammit, I'm wearing nail varnish. Ah well, plenty more fish in the sea.

    lol
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not all women paint their nails, some men paint their nails.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've never really thought about it that much. I have longish nails that I look after, and I occasionally paint them with a clear white gloss which I think looks smart and attractive.

    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lipstick was invented so lips looked like a lady's bits, maybe nail varnish is the same thing?
    Or maybe it's just a splash of colour?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ive just done a few bongs... what in the name of good fuck is going on here?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Lipstick was invented so lips looked like a lady's bits,

    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.
  • Indrid ColdIndrid Cold Posts: 16,688 Skive's The Limit
    Actually, AFAIK, at first it was only the prostitutes that painted themselves. It didn't become mainstream until later.

    Whatever the reason, I have to say I don't like all this "painting oneself culture". Natural is best.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lipstick became popular post WW2 because women were liberated and embraced the freedom to do womanly things like wear mascara and paint their lips bright red. Nail polish probably stems from that too...

    I wear it because I think it looks pretty and neat n tidy.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Lipstick was invented so lips looked like a lady's bits, maybe nail varnish is the same thing?
    Or maybe it's just a splash of colour?

    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
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lipstick became popular post WW2 because women were liberated and embraced the freedom to do womanly things like wear mascara and paint their lips bright red.

    no. wrong.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Whowhere wrote: »
    Lipstick was invented so lips looked like a lady's bits
    I used to wear blue lipstick - people must have thought I had a very rare STI.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd figure that it's just a thing to draw men's attention to the parts of a girl they tend to find most attractive. Like those God awful pants with writing on the arse - why are they never worn by girls with nice arses?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    In both America and England, women publicly applied lip rouge with the express intent of appalling men.[135] Lipstick?s long proscription by social, religious, and legal male authority made it a ready symbol for female rebellion.

    :p
    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 :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katralla wrote: »
    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 can't help smirking lasciviously at 'tinkles' - new one on me!

    But I have to ask - WHY are they attractive to men when reddened - surely something in the animal drives...?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Natural looking nails look better, when they look all shiny and healthy.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    XXXX wrote: »
    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...
    Is there a concensus on a bio-social cause of gender differences in display, or is it believed to be all 'nurture'?

    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).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    I used to wear blue lipstick - people must have thought I had a very rare STI.

    AHAHAHA!

    POTW!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I am very minimalist with my makeup, but I just like to paint my nails because I think it looks cool. I paint my nails, occasionally wear lipstick and I have black eyeliner. If I woke up tomorrow as a boy, then I would still wear the same makeup and most of the same clothes.

    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Girls, Paint your nails!

    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:yum: !
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    piccolo wrote: »
    I used to wear blue lipstick - people must have thought I had a very rare STI.
    i have just embarressed myself by having a hysterial fit over that comment...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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 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:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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:yum: !

    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my_name wrote: »
    In both America and England, women publicly applied lip rouge with the express intent of appalling men.[135] Lipstick?s long proscription by social, religious, and legal male authority made it a ready symbol for female rebellion.

    :p
    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 :p
    Surely it was appalling to men concerned with protecting other men perceived as more susceptible to sexual enticement? (I'm sorry if this is answered in your link - I haven't read it yet). And what kind of female rebellion?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Lipstick became popular post WW2 because women were liberated and embraced the freedom to do womanly things like wear mascara and paint their lips bright red. Nail polish probably stems from that too...

    I wear it because I think it looks pretty and neat n tidy.
    See... womanly things....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd figure that it's just a thing to draw men's attention to the parts of a girl they tend to find most attractive.
    That would make it sociobiological, but is it... nails as nails as sexual magnet painted bypasses me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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).
    Aren't the approaches toward display and appearance very different between the sexes?

    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?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    XXXX wrote: »
    That would make it sociobiological, but is it... nails as nails as sexual magnet painted bypasses me.

    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.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    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.
    I agree to a point - beautiful hands and unbitten well-shaped nails, are pretty much a must for me - yet black or scarlet painted nails are a decided turn-off, and the alternately luminous blue and green nails make me think 'child'.

    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?
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