Boys with nail polish: so not a big deal

my aunt painted her middle child's toenails. He was a boy between 2 sisters and they got to have their nails painted and he wanted his too. It wasn't a gender thing, he never acted like a girl, it was a little kid thing. a middle child who didn't want to be treated differently. It was no big deal.
When I was a kid I played with boy toys and hated to wear dresses. I wore jeans all the time except at school where they insisted on dresses.
Kids should be able to do that kind of thing without being put down.

So, people, I don't understand why the big deal. So what, he likes pink toenails. Is it suddenly wrong for girls to like blue too?

Gay, straight, transgender, pansexual, I don't care what a person is. I am straight, but I will defend to the death a person's right to express themselves. As long as nobody is hurt in the process and everyone in the relationship is a consenting adult, do what you want. Am I a little bothered by drag queens? Honestly, yes. Will I ever, ever tell them they don't have the right to dress/act as they feel they need to? NEVER! I have too many gay/lesbian friends and family members not to stand up for them and everyone else.

Who cares who/how you love, as long as you do love?

i have a daughter and a son - my son DOES paint his fingernails. he is 3 and thinks that if the other people in the house do it (his mom and sister) then he should too - after all, it looks nice. when people freak out about his blue, green, or pink nails at swimming lessons, i shrug and say "so what?" if this is the worst thing my preschooler does, i think we are in good shape. now if he is 15 and doing it, i will have slightly more concern.... :)

Serene80 I couldn't of said it any better... Great post

I actually received that ad and never thought twice about it until i heard about the uproar on the news. I have a 2 year old boy who's nails I painted while I painted his big sister's and didn't think about that either. My husband was actually the one who said he didn't like it at all (which i informed him was totally dumb)...but I saw it simply as fun for my son and daughter and TOTALLY harmless. Please. Gayness doesn't come from painting your toe nails. And if you worry what everyone thinks...well...that's actually a bigger problem that you worry about it! You'll never please everyone.

Oh c'mon. This week's People magazine has Gwen's son sporting green and pink nail polish.

My mom use to let me paint my finger nails because I liked her shiny polish. I did that up until the age I was 9. I'm 25 y/o now and, in my personal opinion, a very masculine U. S. Marine.

Wow! Who cares! Im pretty sure that there are much more appropriate things for us to worry about concerning our children! Its not OK for him to paint his nails, but it would be OK for him to kill people in a video game... because he is a boy??? Now switch it around and its ok for a little girl to paint her nails, but no ok for her to play the same video games??? I think we should stop taking so much time to argue over what is "gender" appropriate, and concentrate on what is just plain appropriate!

Lol my son is 10 and indulges in manicures with his sisters, as well as occasionally pedis (if he thinks no one can see)

I paint my, almost 3 year old, son's toes everytime I paint my own. I let him pick whatever color he wants. He loves it and it gives us Mama-Baby time. He just wants to be apart of what his big sis and I are doing.
I get comments all the time (his dad included) on how boy's shouldn't paint their nails. My response; I will have enough fights on my hands as he gets older. Nail polish is not something to get upset over.

I used to get nail polish for Christmas and birthdays when I was younger, but I was never interested in painting my nails. Instead, I would paint my dad's nails and he didn't mind.

i dont understand why this would be so bad, i am a single mother and my four year old son watches me paint my toes and what not, so i paint his as well i have limited it to just his toes but its okay for girls to play with trucks and what not but its outrageous for boys to play with girl stuff? when i had my daughter he carried his fav teddy bear around and called him his baby (named mason just like him) and would try feeding his bear with his sisters bottle. I see nothing wrong with this, he is learning what dads should do, like his dad does. even though were divorced his dad shows him things like this is okay because mason is a good "dad" to his baby. sexuality and genderism doesnt belong in the world of toddlers, babies and young children.

Jiminy Cricket, folks! Wearing pink nail polish does *not* make a boy child "transgendered"... Cripes! These people and their rigid ideas of proper "gender roles" need to get a clue. Many children, when raised in *healthy* homes where self expression is permitted try out things which are not specific to their gender, and still grow up quite unconfused about their own gender identification as adults, and don't end up being either gay *or* transgendered. Many other children are choosing as young adults to adopt a more androgynous identity while remaining sexually *unconfused*, regardless of their sexual identity.

The attitudes portrayed by these parents who are so worried about "transgendered propaganda" are simply ignorant of what "gender" truly is - a *social construct*, imposed primarily by society - as well as being ignorant of the fact that societal attitudes of the inflexibility of "gender identification" has changed drastically over the last few decades.

So - *HUZZAH* to those parents who are supporting their children's self expression, especially at such an early age. That parenting behavior has been shown (by researchers in psychology) to support a child's *healthy* development and supports a strong sense of self confidence and individuation which allows the child to be self-assured no matter *what* identification (sexual, gender and *otherwise*) the child grows into. And pfffffffttttt... to those parents who would drag us all back into the dark ages if they had their way.

It's not that big of a deal people. I mean GROWN men get pedicures & manicures but i dont't see anyone saying anything about that. People need to realize that its fine for guys to mix with girl things and vise versa. it dosent matter if they're gay or not we're all PEOPLE and should be treated just the same.

When I was younger I enjoyed getting my toe nails done by my aunt, I also enjoyed playing with my little pony’s and I always got along with the girls better than I did the boys. My parents tried to fight it, but to no avail, truth be told I tried to too as I was raised to believe that boys acted one way and girls acted another. I am now in my mid thirty’s and have finally, after many hard years of hating myself come to terms with the fact that I am a cross-dresser. I was born this way and not amount of denial by my parents or myself was going to stop it. Does that mean I’m gay? Not in the least, I am very much strait and I have a wonderful 17 year old daughter that I love. I don’t think it was just because I got my toenails done when I was five that caused this; I was just born this way, simple as that. I now accept it and have been slowly and carefully coming out to the people closest to me because after all, for many people the threat of a cross-dresser next door is so much more dangerous than a murder or rapist.

I DID paint my boy's nails when he asked. And if someone told me I couldn't cause of some stupid belief of theirs well they can shove that where the sun don't shine. He had fun, and would roll over on the floor to wiggle his toes in the air while playing with cars. I applauded this article ( the jcrew) when it came out. Too many children don't get time with their parents these days, lets not take what few precious moments they have away too. :)

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this..I don't necessarily condemn it.. I'm 20 and I don't have children, but have babysat a lot and am engaged and planning for children soon after my wedding in October. I have 2 male friends that LOVE to dress in women's clothing, even bras and panties, and paint their nails and such. One is very manly, the other is somewhat more feminine, but neither are gay. However, I do agree that children do want to be a part of their parent's lives and do what "grown-ups" do. And if mommy's painting her nails and the little boy wants to spend time with her and join in on this, I think it should be okay. He's a child, and children like coloring, and painting, and bright, shiny things. Boy or girl. They just do. So I think people are reading a bit too much into this. I would prefer my son to be typical and play with boy toys, but if he wants me to paint his nails, then I just might. And hey, why can't a boy have pretty pink nails AND play with monster trucks? :]

My son is just about to turn 3 and he loves to paint his nails! We do pink, silver, brown, whatever to him....as long as they are painted! :)

i was at my grandma's house painting my toenails and my older cousin asked could he paint a few of my toes and in jest he painted his toes as well...it was fun and it was a bonding moment...we were in our preteens...the polish was red...he's straight. he's also one of my favorite shopping partners [shrug]

Of course this doesn't matter - he's a kid and might like orange tomorrw and green next week. Unlike tatoos, this is temporary (I can't get my OWN polish to last more than a day or so) and for kids to develop their own identity, they need to experiment. Just because he would prefer blue and not try mom's nail polish doesn't guaarntee he won't be gay, either; and science has determined it's likely the pH in the womb that determines sexual identity - not wearing nail polish!
Also overlooked is that this career mom, Jenna, is spending time with her child having fun not just laying down rules. Go Jenna & Beckett - now that's a fine example to set!