Nail Polish for Men: Transformation of Gender Norms in Postmodern Society

Department: Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice.
Advisors: Kawamura, Yuniya.
Over the past couple of years there has been a noticeable increase in men wearing nail polish. While men wearing nail polish is not exactly new, it has never been so prevalent in mainstream Western fashion. Since the Great Masculine Renunciation, men's fashion has lost much of its frivolity. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries men in Western society relied on cosmetics to enhance their appearance. During this time wearing cosmetics was associated more with one's place in society rather than one's gender. Wearing cosmetics by men identified their social superiority and political standing. But this changed in the late-eighteenth century with the onset of the Industrial Revolution. This qualifying paper takes a closer look at what is causing more and more men to paint their nails using a deductive approach, starting with the hypothesis that men have become increasingly comfortable with embracing practices that were once thought of as being strictly feminine. The research methods used in the analysis include interviews with males who wear nail polish as well as online ethnography which includes analyzing images and videos posted to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. Secondary analysis by scholars who have used qualitative research such as Ted Polhemus, Dunja Brill and Ross Haenfler are also used to contextualize my findings.