Hello, and welcome to my sixth, and final, article for Her Campus. When thinking about how I
was going to exit this amazing opportunity I knew I wanted to go out with a bang. I could’ve
found some way to write more on the topic of masculinity; however, I really didn’t know what
else I could say. All of my other articles have repeated themselves over, and over. As I was
brainstorming how I would make my grand exit, it hit me. “A social experiment!”, I thought.
What this experiment was going to be was not readily available to me but I knew this was how I
wanted to end it. This article might be a long one so I would urge you to buckle up. If I’m going
out with bang, I’m going to tell a story before it.
Pink and blue. What amazing colors they are. Pink is for girls and that’s the rule; blue is for boys
and that’s the rule. Now, this isn’t any shade of pink and blue. This is light pink and light blue,
the colors that most of us were assigned at birth. To be quite honest, I don’t think this construct
will ever die. For a majority of people, it just makes sense. When one gives birth to a girl, she is
immediately expected to love all colors bright and beautiful, pink, purple, yellow, shades of red,
etc. This applies to the birth of a boy as well. Blue, and green, (any shade) are the only colors
that a baby boy should be wrapped in. Now, I’m not going to make you sit through an article
where I bash on the color assignment that we were all subject to as children, that would be
annoying. I’m simply going to break down how challenging this norm is a little scarier than
many of us think.
Social experiments have always fascinated me. They really expose the inner opinions of society
in quite ugly ways. To challenge the community within my college I was going to embark on a
very short journey into the lives of my female counterparts. For a few days, I was going to wear
nail polish. I know this isn’t as risque or shocking as some experiments can be, but it was
shocking for me. I must admit, I could only stomach wearing nail polish on one hand because
wearing it in public was far enough outside my comfort zone. Having all ten of my nails painted
was just too much for me to handle. Alas, here I was, sitting in my friends dorm room painting
my nails in a beautiful baby blue. To say I was scared was an understatement. Before I even
painted my nails I was sitting in class looking at my stubby, chewed, cracked, fingernails
lamenting over the fact that they weren’t more appealing. I was already self-conscious about how
the polish was going to look on my own body because the beauty expectations for women are so
ridiculously fucked up. This thought really disturbed me. Here I was, a college aged male who
hasn’t worn nail polish since he was a very small child and before the experiment even began I
was comparing myself to a societal ideal that isn’t even directed at me.
You may be wondering why I chose nail polish as my social experiment. The year is 2019,
almost 2020, and men across the world are finally getting more comfortable with being whoever
they want to be. Men are dressing however they want, sharing their emotions with whoever will
listen, challenging societal and gender expectations across the board, etc. There are a handful of
male celebrities, and normal people, who paint their nails on a regular basis. For example, A$AP
Rocky, Harry Styles, Seal, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Jared Leto, me, some other men I have seen
on my college campus and in the city surrounding my campus, etc. All of these men represent
different areas of masculinity that have their own list of expectations. A$AP Rocky, a popular
American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion icon, and all-around rule breaker (in the
good way) is flexing with painted nails. Show me one other A-List rapper who paints his nails.
Harry Styles, a gender smashing icon in his own right who flirts with the seductive nature of
being both a man, and someone who is deeply in tune with who he is and how he chooses to
express himself, also paints his nails. Brad Pitt, American actor who has starred in countless
movies and garnered some of the most prestigious wards within the Hollywood community,
paints his motherfucking nails!! All of these men are defying what society is expecting of them
so I wanted to join in.
My college is amazing. Over this past year I have fallen completely in love with the people who
make this place home; however, there is a larger issue surfacing within our community that will
not be going away anytime soon. Vermont is a predominantly white state, the whitest state in
America actually. My college reflects this to an unsettling degree. This is no fault of the college
or the people who have chosen to come here, it’s simply a fact. For the people of color on our
campus, and their numbers are small, there have been a series of outbreaks that have let them
know that they are not welcome here. If you are reading this, and you attend my college, or any
college where the student body is predominantly white, I am telling you that you belong. Fuck
anybody who hides behind stickers, and messages written in bathrooms. They are the ones who
don’t belong here. Anyway, my college preaches that we are an inclusive environment that
welcomes any and all people. For the most part, I agree with this to the fullest extent; however,
what has been happening around campus, and campuses nation-wide, is sending a very different
message. If you are white, you belong. That is the message that is being cast into the social
sphere of my college and I don’t know how to make it disappear. To add to this ongoing
conversation I wanted to see just how accepting my college really is, hence the nail polish.
The looks have been noticed. The staring has been noticed. Does it make me uncomfortable?
Sure it does. Can I tell that someone is looking at my hands when I’m trying to talk to them?
Yes. Have people commented on them? Yes, and the response has been positive, so far. This
doesn’t account for what people may be whispering to their friends, texting to their group chats,
etc. I’m speculating, but with good reason. Today is the first day of my exploration into the
world of crossing gender lines and it honestly feels amazing. There are times that I’ll hide my
fingers from other men who I credit as being “cool as shit” because I don’t want them to get the
wrong idea but then I get annoyed with myself. The whole purpose of this experiment is to show
everyone that this is normal. I’m trying to break the idea that what is meant for women isn’t
exclusively meant for women, and vice versa with men. Does this solve the problem with gender
expectations? Hell to the no. It is my hope that by me “braving” (I use that word loosely) to big
wide world with painted nails will show to someone else that if I’m comfortable enough to do
this in public, you can too.
Pink and blue, what amazing colors they are. For the short period of time that I will have my
nails painted I will only be doing blue. I chose with blue not because this color is allegedly
meant for boys. I chose it for this very specific reason. Is it still meant for boys if the way I
choose to wear it is through a medium that is meant for girls? What if I wear baby blue shoes?
Girls wear shoes, don’t they? Okay, perhaps I’m wearing a baby blue sweater. Is that meant for
girls? This is the challenging aspect of the whole experiment. Society has been so accustomed to
the way things have always been that we cannot move past this idea. Now, I’m not shaming
those who think unlike myself, hell, there are times when I see someone in town, or at school,
who’s wearing something outrageous and I find myself passing internal judgment on them for
whatever reason. Then I remind myself, who the fuck am I? Why am I judging this person for
what they chose to wear, or not to wear? This is the whole point of the article and experiment in
itself. Breaking the mold is the only manner in which any of us can move forward in this life.
As I begin to wrap this up, I am leaving you with some tasks to do:
1.)Live your life, and I mean this. Not in the cliché way, I really, really, mean this.
2.)Be conscious of the people around you and the way they’re feeling.
3.)Be an ally for all people, regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, political view, etc.
4.)Take care of yourself before you assist those who you love. You, and whoever you’re
helping, will appreciate it.
5.)Crack a beer and put on that damn facemask, you deserve it.