apparently, a nail file is a dead giveaway

[betty1253]

This has been on my mind. I work at a steel processing mill. Have to change clothes when I get there in the locker room. My body hair comes and goes, not a word said. But I have been asked twice, while filling my nails after breaking one, "do you need some nail polish?" Of course the answer was yes, but what does filling nails have to do with gender?

[Cara Lacey]

I file my nails all the time: I am a guitarist!

[DanaR]

I'm always breaking a nail and needing a file. No one has ever asked me that.

[Katey888]

... but what does filling nails have to do with gender?

Nothing. :) You keep filing them and as smart as you can Betty...

It has more to do with culture - manicured and extravagantly long nails are still regarded as a sign of status by some parts of male society in Taiwan... it's just western culture and the fashion industry that's pushed great nails towards the feminine side in the latter 100 years or so. I keep mine as long as practical and with a clear coat all the time now - no-one seems to notice, or has never commented...

I believe GGs are generally more expressive with their hands so strongly coloured nails do get a little more visibility than with guys - personally I'd love to get a bit more radical with my normal guy look too... hmmm... maybe some day...

Katey x

[Tina B.]

Seems Macho men clip, only a girly man would file, at least that is what I have been told. And I have been called out for clear nail polish, some people do notice.
But after awhile people stop asking about it.

[Kate Simmons]

Every woman usually has a file and/or clipper. With guys it's optional I guess. :battingeyelashes::)

[Closeted Kat]

i have a swiss army knife on me all the time, and it has a file so no big deal and no one says anything. Just do what you like. I too am in ohio.
-kat

[Stephanie Julianna]

Well, it is kind of an unspoken rule that men clip their nails and girls file theirs. I'm with you. I file.

[justmetoo]

I usually clip first and then file to smooth out the edge/curve/corners. I also use a file if I get a minor rough spot. The file I use most often is a small travel size file that came with a men's travel kit.
I agree that culture, and even sub-culture or local culture, comes into play in the "genderation" of these things. :)

[Pat]

That's funny! It reminds me of a manliness test from when I was a kid (1950's Boston.) The tester would ask you to look at your fingernails. If you spread you hand out flat, palm down then you were a sissy. If you bent your fingers into your palm and examined the nails palm up you were a man (as much as grade school kids are men.) Clip .vs. File seems just as silly and arbitrary.

[DorothyElizabeth]

Having come into the engineer field from the "old school" of hand-drafting, I have an emery board with me at all times. As often as not, I have to clean the pencil lead out of it before I can use it on my nails. I don't like nail files; all I have ever seen are too coarse to do a really clean job on either pencil points or finger nails. Most old-time drafters use an emery board on their nails, because it is handier than searching around for clippers. Consequently, no one thinks anything of it when I file a nail or two at work.

And Yeah, Jennie - I have heard of that test, too, except I heard the opposite, the theory being that if you look at you hand palm up, you see your nails as others will, which supposedly is more of a female concern.

[Eryn]

Well-groomed people of both genders use nail files. Clippers are only for rough shaping, files or emery boards are used to smooth the nail. What would a woman think of a man whose nails snag her sweater?

[Tammy Lynn Tx]

I have never been called on using a nail file or using clear (usually hard as nails) polish. many years ago a GG friend of mine asked about the clear polish and I told her the truth, my nails are brittle and break right after the quick and hurts like heck. My mother told me years ago you can learn a lot from a persons hands. Never did find out what she meant.

[Angie G]

At work I use fine sandpaper on my nails wich are waways polished in clear gloss polish.Only one young summer help ever asked if I paint my nails. I told her yes as if it was no big thing.:hugs:
Angie

[Pat]

And Yeah, Jennie - I have heard of that test, too, except I heard the opposite...

After I got my ears pierced someone asked why I had them both done. I said that I had heard on the east coast "the right ear is the wrong ear" while on the west coast the opposite was true, so I had them both done so there'd be no question. They walked away a little confused then came back to my office an hour later to explain the fallacy in my reasoning.... :laughing:

[Ineke Vashon]

I keep a nail file handy, in public, because my old nails are rather brittle and sometimes they look like I bite my nails. I don't. I tried nail hardener but it seemed to make them worse. A clerk at a Walgreen's suggested I try Nailtiques formula 2 nail protein. And use a soft buff. Too early to tell if the protein will improve my nails but my nail surfaces look better and they are pleasantly shiny. I'm always in drab but no one has either noticed or commented. Another small step for a man :battingeyelashes:

Ineke

[Lynn Marie]

A gentleman who knows how to make love to a woman must know how to keep his nails well groomed with nothing that might scratch a women's tender parts. My grandmother taught me that and also that it was a sign of culture for a man to have his nails polished with a clear lacquer.

[Barbara Jo]

I have found that comments like that are often said at least partially in jest and going along with the joke defuses it and takes away the commenter's ammunition.
If you go along with the joke, he is defeated as it puts you in charge of the conversation.

The worst thing one can do is act defensive or nervous about it .

If that was me, I would have jokingly replied with something like. "Yes, how about that light red polish you have in your locker"? :)

[StarrOfDelite]

Up until I was in my late thirties I played pickup basketball and handball at the YMCA 2-3-4 times a week, and was always tearing my fingernails. I kept toenail clippers, fingernail clippers, and either a steel file or an emery board in my locker. No one ever said a word, and that was in Youngstown! My response, if asked, would probably have been something like, "Your momma doesn't like it if my fingernails are scratchy."

[DorothyElizabeth]

A gentleman who knows how to make love to a woman must know how to keep his nails well groomed with nothing that might scratch a women's tender parts. My grandmother taught me that and also that it was a sign of culture for a man to have his nails polished with a clear lacquer.

My grandmother used to say, "If you want to know if a man is a gentleman or an imposter, look at his nails and his shoes. Both should be in good condition and well polished. And well polished shoes with a broken and knotted lace are a sure sign of a man who has fallen on hard times, through no fault of his own."

[SometimesJen]

My employment is intellectual so on weekends I like to do things that are physical: yard work, gardening, wood working, work on cars, etc. I chip or break a nail 2 or 3 times a week so I always carry an emery board or sand paper in my wallet. I had someone ask about it once and I told them I hate it when my hands snag a new shirt or pair of pants just by putting them on. They completely overlooked the nice buff I had just done the night before and never asked again.