It can’t surprise anyone, by now, that Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Borja Iglesias, Brad Pitt or Al Pacino wear painted nails to work. In other words, to wear colored nail polish when they go to their concerts, galas, red carpets and football matches. What is starting to be seen are men with painted nails in offices, classrooms, courts and in Parliament.
The minister of territory of the Generalitat, Juli Fernà ndez, started painting them three years ago. “I have a son, who is now 13 years old, who painted them and I understood that it was important that there were male references who could break with the stereotype. Aesthetically I feel good and I think it can be useful”. Fernández, who does his own manicures and also paints his wife’s nails sometimes, says he feels comfortable this way. “I try to break as much as possible with the things that men are supposed to do and what women are supposed to do, these rules that are based on a patriarchal vision.”
Image consultant Marta Pontnou, who has worked with Fernà ndez, takes some of the credit for the councillor’s aesthetic boldness. “It is one of the most abandoned. His style before was more of a white shirt, jeans and a blazer. As we have been working together, we have incorporated elements such as vests or colored Doctor Martens bootsâ€. And the nails, which Fernández wore purple for the 8-M, but which he has also worn in black or light colors.
“It’s good for a politician to make this a little more visible. Until now, it was relegated to artistic jobs or actors”, says Pontnou.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) is considered one of the four largest consultancies in the world. According to a report published by an independent institute, women barely make up 15% of their workforce and they all show serious wage imbalances, of up to 28%, in favor of men. When asked, they say that this about nails sounds “quite distant”. “It must be a more frequent situation in advertising agencies, in the world of leisure or in technology companies”, ventures a PwC spokesperson, where you still don’t see many men with painted nails.
Samuel Alonso identifies as non-binary, is 22 years old and works as a nurse in Oviedo. He prefers to take off his nail polish to work, partly because it is not recommended by health professionals for reasons of hygiene, and to avoid comments. “Many nurses wear painted nails without any restrictions, but in my case, it is enough for them to see an entity that they perceive as masculine with painted nails for them to take this argument against me.” On the other hand, ValentÃn Calzado, a primary school teacher in Castilla-La Mancha, does usually go to class with colorful manicures, with pink, blue, green… He has had no problems with his family or with his classmates. With the students, more than once it has helped him to start productive conversations. “Last year I participated in the summer school in my town and a boy of about six or seven asked me why I was painting my nails. I told him that I really liked him, as he liked Spider-Man and football. The fact is that he continued to associate and then he asked me if I was a ladybug, and I told him yes, that I am homosexual. They generally appreciate diversity,” says Calzado.
Alfonso Blanco had a much worse experience in the educational field. After two summers as a leisure monitor, accompanying teenagers on trips to the UK, she turned up for a date with her boss in green, glitter-coated fingernails.
The detail coincided, as he explains, with a period of personal discovery in which he was freeing himself “from the farce of heterosexual privilege”. The boss asked her not to show her painted nails in front of the students’ families and to refrain from wearing them like that for the entire trip.
When he replied that it was important to him, the head wrote to him via message: “The rules are the rules. I’m not homophobic, I have friends and family like that.” Both he and his brother, who also worked in the organization, preferred to give up this job. “We didn’t want to work in any company that discriminated against us because of our appearance or our sexual orientation.”
