It was a couple weeks ago. They are chipping away and not nearly as pretty as they were. Still, shiny.
This wasn't a professional job. I was at a birthday party and part of the thing was a nail polish station, primarily intended for the small girls at the party. Naturally an older man at the party made jokes about how the boys are going next, clearly thinking that no boy would do such a thing. Because girl stuff, ewww!
I went next.
Apparently there were more comments during the event disparaging men or boys getting their nails done, but none of them made in my presence. I guess none of the people there felt up to challenging my masculinity on the basis of a couple mL of sparkles - which is unfortunate, because I had some savage replies all locked and loaded.
The small boy at the party also decided to get his nails done. I hope he didn't have to put up with a lot of flak for that choice, but this family runs pretty conventional, so I expect there was pushback.
I have gotten plenty of weird reactions in the weeks since. Lots of people notice it and are surprised - it isn't normal for me, and it doesn't fit with the rest of my aesthetic.
It does make me a bit sad though when people totally lose their minds about it. I have had medical professionals demand that I parade myself in front of secretaries to show off my nails because a man with nail polish is JUST SO WILD and WOW. It isn't the same as criticism, certainly, but I don't want a gigantic fuss made about me at all - I just want people to shrug and ignore it. I like the idea that if I do something outside the normal gender rules people will be cool with it, not put it on me to be part of the show.
There are people that dress differently to get a reaction, certainly. But most just want to do their thing and be left alone, and usually I get left alone because I look quite expected. For the next few weeks though I will be hoping to just sneak under the radar and not have everyone make a fuss, aggressive or not, about a couple mL of pink goo that happens to be coded 'woman'.
You set a good example for the little boy you ended up also wanting his nails sparkly. I am surprised there is flak for this. At least, letting my daughter paint my nails seems completely normal to me; I'd be puzzled if someone thought this was odd.
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