Nails

[SpaceYeti]

Most people, I presume, are aware of the whole difference between men and women looking at their nails. Regardless how true it is, why is it that women look at their fingernails with their arm extended? If you curl your fingers in and look at therm with your arm bent, they're closer to your face, and therefore closer to your eyes, and therefore you see them better. Sexual stereotype or not, why would anyone do it the first way? It's... not as good. Is it an attention thing? Does the more exaggerated motion attract attention, and the woman is only partially interested in the state of her nails? It would have to be subconscious, wouldn't it? I mean, most women would hate to think of themselves as attention whores, wouldn't they?

Women are so confusing!

 

[Jordan~]

When women do this, they're probably checking that their nails look good with their hands, so they need the full visual as other people see it.

 

[CLOfriendOSE]

I wondered the same thing when I heard about this test. At it's heart I think it's an attention thing, but the steps to get there:

When do "average" men look at their nails?
~Cutting? Do most men cut one nail at a time as they get long, or do they wait and cut them all at once now and then? Either way, the important part here is that hygiene of the hand, for men, basically only deals with nail growth. This is very gradual!

When do "average' women look at their nails?
Painting the Nails - when painting the nails, to keep the hand stationary wouldn't it help to have them on an extended arm on a flat surface? Also note that painting nails seems to create the idea of nails as a collective
Filing nails - another collective idea. Also, most women I know who do this do not do so meticulously as much as out of habit (ie: can talk and file their nails/do it out of habit).

Anyway, it seems like women seem to be more likely to think of their "nails" as a collective, wheras men seem to think of them more as "a collection of singular". When the hand is extended and the view is out, imperfections in the polish of nails fades. Furthermore, the "effect" of the nails, when seen together, is more complete this way.

So, I think it's more of a "people who treat their nails" vs "people who do not treat their nails". Then, if more women fall into the "people who treat their nails" category, it would lead for the statistic to be somewhat debunk (as it's not really a biological thing at all...)

Of course, to paint one's nails is inherently a materialist thing, and upon somebody who's socially dictated (ie:Omg guys I need to do my nails before I go out because I cannot be seen with chipped poish if I'm going to be wearing sandals....) stems to a grab for attention in the name of individuality.

/rambles....

 

[SpaceYeti]

I also noticed that my hand looks smaller and more delicate when I look at them the girl way, and small, delicate girls are pretty.

Oh, and you seem to have a distaste for materialism. Yeah, fuck having stuff. Stuff has never helped anyone.

 

[A22]

It's just a few inches away from your eyes.... Man that's like crossing your arms with the left or the right arm up. Who do it with the left arm up cannot understand how the right arm people can stand in such an uncomfortable position and vice-versa.

 

[Hadoblado]

I, being really drunk and lost for words+grammar+wtf else, would like to mention that the out stretched hand in 'girl way' feels much the same way as the extended pinky in the 'gay way' of drinking wine.

That is all.

 

[CLOfriendOSE]

While not to start a huge materialism debate,

yes, I do distaste it. Espefcially societally dicated materialism. People stress out over what their nails look like, because society tells them something about how their nails should look (what color, what condition, what length). All these little things are just representations of a core problem, mostly concerning the use of materialism as a system of oppression (goes back as far as I know of) to prevent people from reaching happiness. It's like a check list to fulfillment and removes the need for purposeful introspection.

Even going to the bible we can see its use:
~Lucifer is originally the Light Bringer, meaning he existed before light and dark were seperated. This means he is both light and dark, a reflection of "God", the creator.
~Lucifer is transformed into Satan
~Gnostics write about the structure of reality, the lie of the material world (which is Lucifer's Realm, the world governed by the ratio of perception)
~Christ originally refers to the Kingdom of God as a mental state that one enters, not a "palace in the sky". There is the material, and then there is the divine.
~The church uses Satan as a system of opression - Hell goes from a mental state to a "place you go when you die, beware Satan, the big scary monster king! Grrrr! "
~Use the power of morals based on "heaven and hell" to enforce behavior amongst the masses. They are just toying with the world, accumulating mass wealth (very...unchristian of them really) and hiding the texts that lead the world to enlightenment.

The materialist is just a pawn in bigger games that are the politics of our world. The inherent self absorbtion instilled through the projection of the person into objects roots the person down, while superfluous goals distracts them from pursuing the truth (You can see occurs in both Religion and Government - though Americans would like to belive in the "seperation of Church and State" which is one of the biggest lies ever).

Anyway. So, things never really did anything good for anybody. Just made them delusional and unimaginative.

Painting one's nails is just a tool used for a misogynist agenda. It's painfully obvious to those who take the time to think about it, but glanced over by so many.

 

[Chimera]

Link, please..? First time I've ever heard of this. All I have are my own experiences to go off of, which are...radically different than how females are supposed to observe their nails, I guess.
​

 

[PhoenixofVindemiatrix]

Hmm, I've never thought of this before. I've never done it. Probably the same reason that women usually look into the mirror far more often than men do?

 

[SilentRobert23]

I think we can just chalk it down to (most) women making no sense, ever.

 

[SpaceYeti]

While not to start a huge materialism debate,

yes, I do distaste it. Espefcially societally dicated materialism. People stress out over what their nails look like, because society tells them something about how their nails should look (what color, what condition, what length). All these little things are just representations of a core problem, mostly concerning the use of materialism as a system of oppression (goes back as far as I know of) to prevent people from reaching happiness. It's like a check list to fulfillment and removes the need for purposeful introspection.

Even going to the bible we can see its use:
~Lucifer is originally the Light Bringer, meaning he existed before light and dark were seperated. This means he is both light and dark, a reflection of "God", the creator.
~Lucifer is transformed into Satan
~Gnostics write about the structure of reality, the lie of the material world (which is Lucifer's Realm, the world governed by the ratio of perception)
~Christ originally refers to the Kingdom of God as a mental state that one enters, not a "palace in the sky". There is the material, and then there is the divine.
~The church uses Satan as a system of opression - Hell goes from a mental state to a "place you go when you die, beware Satan, the big scary monster king! Grrrr! "
~Use the power of morals based on "heaven and hell" to enforce behavior amongst the masses. They are just toying with the world, accumulating mass wealth (very...unchristian of them really) and hiding the texts that lead the world to enlightenment.

The materialist is just a pawn in bigger games that are the politics of our world. The inherent self absorbtion instilled through the projection of the person into objects roots the person down, while superfluous goals distracts them from pursuing the truth (You can see occurs in both Religion and Government - though Americans would like to belive in the "seperation of Church and State" which is one of the biggest lies ever).

Anyway. So, things never really did anything good for anybody. Just made them delusional and unimaginative.

Painting one's nails is just a tool used for a misogynist agenda. It's painfully obvious to those who take the time to think about it, but glanced over by so many.

1) I don't care what Christianity has to say about it. Whether Christianity agrees or not is a mere detail, a coincidence. I'd rather discover what the case actually is. You see, I have no religion. I consider human religions to be shallow and small minded, due to the fact that they require and advocate the lack of reason as a central tenant. You cannot have a religion without faith, and you cannot have faith if you have knowledge.

2) You speak of the beauty product industry specifically, and materialism generally, as though it's some huge conspiracy. People like things. People like being attractive. There's nothing innately wrong with this, unless you have some reason to suppose a human's base desires are somehow wrong, but I find that to be downright silly. A person cannot be happy if they ignore their desires, after all. I like my car. A lot. I like everything I own, and I like looking good in my clothes and my shades. To say I'm somehow less of a good person or somehow less imaginative than any other random person simply because I enjoy the physical world and the parts of it I can call my own is downright dumb. Yes, family is important, friends, all of that, obviously, but I get to my friends and family in my car, I attracted my wife at least partially with my looks, and, you know what? I like sex.

That's okay.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Hmm, I've never thought of this before. I've never done it. Probably the same reason that women usually look into the mirror far more often than men do?

Doubtful! I look into the mirror every chance I get!

 

[Aramea]

Funny topic. I have fakes because I am too lazy and inconsistent to care for my nails and they get skanky. I am also known to be too lazy to go to the nail place in time and have to get them replaced. Women do like to make a decent appearance in public most of the time. I don't have an answer to the original question, though. No one sees them from that angle but the woman so I will look at them in a mirror on occasion to see if the are ok.

 

[Don't mind me]

yes, I do distaste it. Espefcially societally dicated materialism. People stress out over what their nails look like, because society tells them something about how their nails should look

What is 'society' in this sentence? Please.

Anyway. So, things never really did anything good for anybody. Just made them delusional and unimaginative.

Yeah, I completely agree, all the machines and tools used to produce my food, electricity, other necessities, luxuries etc. ain't have any use to me, because I don't even need no stinkin' food! All this absence of hunger just makes me delusional!

Also, seeing as you made a post on an internet forum, you are either engaged in a performative contradiction by having a demonstrated preference of using a computer over not using a computer, or computers are somehow excluded from the category "stuff".

Painting one's nails is just a tool used for a misogynist agenda. It's painfully obvious to those who take the time to think about it, but glanced over by so many.

Misogynist agenda? Get yer critical theory outta here and consider, if you will, sexual friggin' selection and conspicuous consumption.

 

[Bird]

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're looking at your nails
and we're looking at our whole hand?

 

[mke2686]

facepalm.jpg

 

[SpaceYeti]

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're looking at your nails
and we're looking at our whole hand?

I have this thing with hands. Drawing them is hard, and so I grew a habit of paying attention to them... yet I never looked at my hand the girl way until I did so to try to figure out why they do it.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Funny topic. I have fakes because I am too lazy and inconsistent to care for my nails and they get skanky. I am also known to be too lazy to go to the nail place in time and have to get them replaced. Women do like to make a decent appearance in public most of the time. I don't have an answer to the original question, though. No one sees them from that angle but the woman so I will look at them in a mirror on occasion to see if the are ok.

How do you look at your hands?

 

[Jennywocky]

When women do this, they're probably checking that their nails look good with their hands, so they need the full visual as other people see it.

yes, I'm looking at the overall hand and how things line up and whether it's all balanced and how they look....

(I also sometimes bend my elbow tightly into my body, throw my wrist way back, curl in the top joints of my fingers and look at my nails that way. I'm not sure why I do that, it just feels natural.)

EDIT: OMG. Did someone actually try to derive a "Christian" position on this topic? Unbelievable. This place can be such a source of ongoing amusement.

Painting one's nails is just a tool used for a misogynist agenda.

That bit should provide plenty of conversational material for the next few days.

 

[Aramea]

How do you look at your hands?

I look at them with my arm extended like you mentioned. I also will stand in front of a mirror and move my hands around to check to see how they look to others. I will put my nails close to my face to check for hangnails and cuticle problems.

Overall, I look at them way to much now that you mention it. Hands are a medium for expression.

LOL @ the misogynist thing. Really? Most of us are aware that very few men really care to that extent. My husband's 70 year old aunt's nails are nearly always long and scarlet red and I doubt most men give her more than a passing glance. Without routine visits to the salon mine look like I ran them over a cheese grater and I can hardly see how that is gyno friendly.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Christians aren't materialistic, apparently. And why should they be? They can't take their awesome 64 inch TV to heaven, after all. I'm pretty sure Jesus has a projector.

 

[thoumyvision]

Most people, I presume, are aware of the whole difference between men and women looking at their nails. Regardless how true it is, why is it that women look at their fingernails with their arm extended? If you curl your fingers in and look at therm with your arm bent, they're closer to your face, and therefore closer to your eyes, and therefore you see them better. Sexual stereotype or not, why would anyone do it the first way? It's... not as good. Is it an attention thing? Does the more exaggerated motion attract attention, and the woman is only partially interested in the state of her nails? It would have to be subconscious, wouldn't it? I mean, most women would hate to think of themselves as attention whores, wouldn't they?

Women are so confusing!

I've noticed a similar divergence in the way men and women use handheld touchscreen devices. Men most often use them with the thumb of the hand holding the device, whereas women most often use them with the index finger of the hand not holding the device. This is interesting because handheld touchscreen devices have gained popularity only in the last ten years. Men and women independently developed different habits of using these devices, why?

 

[SpaceYeti]

I look at them with my arm extended like you mentioned. I also will stand in front of a mirror and move my hands around to check to see how they look to others. I will put my nails close to my face to check for hangnails and cuticle problems.

Overall, I look at them way to much now that you mention it. Hands are a medium for expression.

LOL @ the misogynist thing. Really? Most of us are aware that very few men really care to that extent. My husband's 70 year old aunt's nails are nearly always long and scarlet red and I doubt most men give her more than a passing glance. Without routine visits to the salon mine look like I ran them over a cheese grater and I can hardly see how that is gyno friendly.

I have a fascination with them due to my desire to draw them properly... and it seems like you look at your hands more than I look at mine.

By the way, my hands are wrinklier than when I was a teenager. I didn't expect that until my mid thirties.

Oh my, I'm only a pinch form thirty now! Life keeps surprising you.

 

[SpaceYeti]

I've noticed a similar divergence in the way men and women use handheld touchscreen devices. Men most often use them with the thumb of the hand holding the device, whereas women most often use them with the index finger of the hand not holding the device. This is interesting because handheld touchscreen devices have gained popularity only in the last ten years. Men and women independently developed different habits of using these devices, why?

I can't claim to know why, but men and women are certainly different. I'm not the sort of person to presume that things different on the outside must necessarily be the same on the inside.

 

[Causeless]

I, being really drunk and lost for words+grammar+wtf else, would like to mention that the out stretched hand in 'girl way' feels much the same way as the extended pinky in the 'gay way' of drinking wine.

That is all.

Now what do I do with my pinky!?!

It doesn't fit on the glass darnit!!!

 

[Bird]

I have this thing with hands. Drawing them is hard, and so I grew a habit of paying attention to them... yet I never looked at my hand the girl way until I did so to try to figure out why they do it.

We mainly consider our fingers.
It's weird to look at your fingers
up close. Try it.

 

[SpaceYeti]

We mainly consider our fingers.
It's weird to look at your fingers
up close. Try it.

No it's not. That's how I usually look at my fingers. Helps me figure out how the small parts look.

 

[Bird]

No it's not. That's how I usually look at my fingers. Helps me figure out how the small parts look.

What parts can you tell are small when your
hands are that close to your face and your
perception fucked?

 

[SpaceYeti]

Um... well... I have a sense of dimension, so I can tell which parts are small by comparing them to the parts around them and the whole. It pretty much happens automatically, without me even thinking about it. You know... like when things are near to your eyes.

 

[PhoenixofVindemiatrix]

While not to start a huge materialism debate,
Painting one's nails is just a tool used for a misogynist agenda. It's painfully obvious to those who take the time to think about it, but glanced over by so many.

I think it's just in attempt for females to look pretty, to attract the opposite sex. Many animals do this, but sometimes the gender roles are reversed. For example, male birds have colorful feathers and do showy dances to win their mates. Natural selection.