More than 5,000 years ago, the warriors of Babylonia painted their fingernails with kohl to go to battle. More recently, A-list actor Brad Pitt wore nail polish, apparently just for the heck of it.
Yet for some reason, it’s a showstopper when a 17-year-old male in Texas wears nail polish to school?
Granted, women have been practically the only ones decorating their nails for the last few centuries. But custom and convention are no reason for nail polish to be an exclusively female style — witness how earrings have become commonplace for men.
The real problem is schools’ efforts to force traditional gender roles on students, including dictating the way boys and girls dress and groom themselves. These rules continue in many areas of the nation. It’s the modern equivalent of making sure that girls play with dolls and boys with toy trucks.