The Controversial J.Crew Pink Nail Polish Ad
There’s been a lot of buzz recently around a J.Crew ad that depicts the company’s president, Jenna Lyons, with her son who has neon pink nail polish on his toes. It includes the quote, “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”
Why there is such an uproar about this escapes me. Granted, I don’t have, or plan to have, children so I can’t really see this from a parent’s perspective but I’ve always felt that if you aren’t hurting anyone or breaking any laws, do what you damn well please.
We’ve discussed men wearing nail polish in the past and to this day it is still one of my most popular posts, continuing to receive new comments. While there are people against the idea, the majority of us Fanatics seem to be okay with men wearing polish on their hands or feet. So why shouldn’t this apply to little boys? Would we even be talking about this if the color was more “masculine” like gray or black?
When I looked at the ad, I thought, “Oh this is a way to pimp the Essie polishes J.Crew will be carrying this summer. Using her son will be sure to draw attention.” Not that civilization as we know it is ending because of how she colored her son’s toenails.
Yes, it is eye catching to see a male with neon pink toes. Yes, it obviously got the press to take notice. But how did I learn of this whole controversy? From a reader asking me on Twitter if I knew the name of the polish used in the ad. Enough said!
What are your thoughts on this ordeal? Is it something we should be talking about? Do any of you have young boys in your life that like to polish their nails? Does it make a difference whether the color is a “girly” pink or “masculine” dark?
ps To answer the reader’s question… I don’t know the shade name but when I find out I will update this post. The Essie polishes used in J.Crew ads are usually for sale on the website but the only pink I is see currently is Forget Me Nots which is not neon.
When I was a little boy, up until the age of 8 or 9, my two older sisters kept nail polish on me. I am now 60 years old, straight, married with two grown children and wear nail polish. I usually wear reds and darker colors on my feet, to match my wife’s hands, and clear, white, silver or blue on my hands. My wife is “required” to wear red. Our nail tech has several clients where the little guys wear the same color polish as the moms. Love that nail polish.
I know I’m late to the game here, but wanted to comment anyway. To me, it’s not the nail polish, it’s the wording in the ad. I found it kind of sad that she’s saying that she’s lucky her boy likes pink. Sounds like ‘well, I really wanted a girl, but since I got a boy, at least he likes pink!’
Nothing wrong with boys or men painting their nails, nothing wrong with boys or men liking pink, just something about the wording makes it sound like mom would be disappointed if he didn’t like pink polish. I know she loves him and it really wouldn’t matter, the ad’s wording just sucks.
I know I’m late to the party but there’s things that need to be pointed out to you dithering bovines decrying the ‘unnaturalness’ of nail polish on boys. Did any of you graduate from high school? Because where I come from that requires passing grades in biology and science classes. Did you all have rheumatic fever during the chapters about animals and how it’s always the male of the species that Mother Nature decks out in bright colors and fancy outfits. Fish, birds insects, mammals, all of them. It’s humans that have nature backwards.
And a little human history study wouldn’t be out of place for some of you either. Men have worn make up, wigs, and ‘feminine’ clothing off and on all through history. That androgyny you’re so worried about is just yet another cycle. The male/female roles society tries to shove upon innocent children are not in any way a function of nature, but merely a focus of adult fears of anyone or anything that doesn’t fall into their comfort parameters. Move into the 21st century people, because if you don’t it will roll right over you. The only thing constant about humans is that they are always changing. Deal with it.
As a male who like to wear toe polish, and clear on my fingers, I believe this whole mess is really about the feminine expression being somewhat inferior, maybe not even somewhat. Which may be why it’s acceptable for girls to emulate men, therefore the superior expression, but for boys to like girl stuff, girls stuff in “their” eyes, is wrong because if anyone would want to do inferior stuff then there must be something wrong with them. Basically a kind of defective, so as such should be removed from society in order to keep the herd strong.
Having said that, I wear it because I like color, and it’s my way of venting my frustration at the rules that “they” constantly place on all of us for no reason at all. Anybody, at any time can judge what they believe my sexual orientation may be, and they might be right or they might be wrong. But as a point Clairol used to say “only the individual knows for sure”
So… she likes pink, and her son likes pink. Um… that’s disgraceful…?