I keep longer nails than most men. Eventually I do cut them and they’re not freakishly long. They are always clean, very white all the time. I know how to wash my hands and I get under the nails (because who wants to see dirty nails). I could always cut them before they are at a length that is considered long of course, but I’m not going to cut them just because people tell me to. I cut them when I believe is necessary.
To get to the point, many people (male and female) say its disgusting. Is this a homophobic reaction or do they actually think that long nails are dirty. Women keep long nails and they never get the impression that theirs is dirty.
I guess I just find longer nails on a man to be strange. I don’t assume that a man with long nails is a homosexual (and at least you do keep them clean and trimmed), but it does often come across to me as an affectation or something.
(It probably doesn’t help that I, myself, keep my nails super-short; you’d probably think I was strange, too. )
Homophobic? Probably not. I don’t know of any ant-gay stereotype that talks about the length of nails (well, maybe for a cross-dresser or transsexual).
Sexist? In the sense similar to in the 60s, where restaurants would refuse to serve men with long hair, but have no problem with women with even longer hair.
It’s sexism, pure and simple. I own it. I loathe long fingernails on men. It literally makes shivers of revulsion crawl up my spine.
Can’t really tell you why, (except for the obvious discomfort and outright pain I’ve suffered at the hands of a few exes during lovemaking.) I don’t think they’re dirty (unless they’re dirty), I just think they’re gross. There’s no real reason I shouldn’t like nicely manicured longer nails on a man, but I just don’t.
I can just about tolerate long nails on a guitarist, if he’s the finger picking type, but I have to make a conscious effort to not otice his hands!
I am a creature of my culture, and this is one norm that apparently sunk in.
Pretty much this. Definitely not homophobia, because a) I love me some gay people, and b) dudes with long nails don’t make me think “gay”, they make me think “ew, gross.”
I honestly have no idea why this is, and if a guy friend wanted to grow his nails I would try not to judge, but there’s just a visceral “ick” reaction for me. It could be that I really only saw long man-nails when I worked retail, and always on guys who were “off” in other ways - creepy, overly forward, close-talkers, etc.
But of course, if you want folks to think of you as a good ol’ boy, you better use the “curled fingers” method when you check your nails!!!
I should probably start a poll thread about just how long is too long for male nails. Do they have to be cut as short as humanly possible without drawing blood, or can they be … oh, I don’t know … a millimeter or two long?
FWIW, I’ve ended dates with men who have long nails. Yeah, it’s my Seinfeld-ism if you will and it’s horribly shallow. It’s my hang-up and I own it. Conversely, the chewed down fingernails are a turn on. Luckily my BF keeps 'em really short.
As for homophobic? No. We’re both gay and both don’t like long nails.
Sexist? I wouldn’t want to see him in a dress or heels or with long hair or with anything that is feminine, but that’s a preference and not a bigotry.
BTW, I’m a guitarist and a fingerpicker and while my nails could grow nice and strong, I mentally could not handle it.
What WhyNot said. I find it viscerally disgusting, and my husband knows that he’s not touching me if his nails get too long. It doesn’t matter if they’re clean, I still find them scratchy and gross. I admit that it’s sexist, but I don’t see myself getting over it, either. Luckily, it affects no one but my husband, who keeps his nails short unless he forgets to cut them. I don’t tend to look at other people’s hands as much, so I rarely notice it on a stranger unless the guy’s nails are REALLY long.
I also keep my own nails extremely short, so I don’t really see the appeal of long nails on women, but just seeing long nails on a woman doesn’t disgust me, probably because they’re everywhere.
I have no explanation for it, but it literally makes me shudder sometimes. I just assumed it was a personal quirk, but I guess it’s more common than I thought.
Long nails on guys seems to be a recent metrosexual affectation. You can’t really do manual labor with long nails, so you appear “softer” and more feminine. Also, it’s seen as strange because you can’t really do any, um, penetrative activities with long nails. Which the norm would have us believe most guys “should” do. Or, people may suspect you of being a cocaine user, although that’s more of a thing if the pinky nail is longer than the rest of your nails.
I don’t really care if a random guy or a male friend has long nails, but I would say it’s a turn-off if you go on a date. Because nobody wants their nether regions sliced to tiny ribbons.
When I was a kid I read something about the Mandarin (class) in China wearing their nails long to demonstrate that they didn’t have to work with their hands. Ever since I’ve thought long nails = parasite. If they are long enough that it is hard to pick up something small, on either gender, it is a big turn off for me.
Also, it is nice to be able to give someone a massage without drawing blood <grin>.
This. I’ve been with people who went probing into my girly bits and I’m sorry to tell ya, that shit hurts. Stop. it. Just please cut your goddamned fingernails or don’t plan to put them anywhere near my vagina. Thank you. Or.
Learn how to flatten your fingers when in probing mode so your fingernails do not touch me. See, I have long nails and I can manage to masturbate by hand without slicing myself to bits. I’ll be happy to show you how. But don’t get all offended when your nails slice into something and I’m all “Ouch, dammit, quit that!” You know how you don’t like teeth to be involved in the blow job? Same thing.
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