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Rap Superstar Drake courted controversy when he posted pictures of his pink manicured nails to social media (Image: WIREIMAGE)
Theres a reason I deny meeting all the famous people who try to meet me. https://t.co/zMVaGkmchY
Therefore, Drake is correct in calling out homophobia from men like Andrew Tate who attacked the rapper after the post went viral, as many of Drake’s posts often do because of his global reach. Nail polish, like many aspects of our society, is genderless. We have needlessly ascribed gender to colors, activities, and even the positioning of our wrists or certain phrases. As a result, a harmless activity like Drake wearing colored nails becomes a societal battleground of sorts where men question the masculinity of other men. Masculinity too, is yet another social construct that we have decided only looks one way when there are many ways to be a man. Essentially from birth, we are told that men should never cry, never show softness and never ask for help, that those are signs of weakness from men. The reality is that those things do not make us weak or failures as men, those things make us human. This is the background that Drake is working against when he wears nail polish in public or posts it on his Instagram account. Anything that can be perceived as feminine is read as softness and the way our societal values are set up, the worst thing a “real man” can be is soft.
Source: Black Enterprise
