In a disappointing display of gender bias, a young boy in California was told by his teacher that “painting your nails is only for girls, but his Dad knew just what to do.
Over the past few decades, there has been a significant shift in the perceptions of gender norms, with people feeling free to express themselves how they want.
So when California Dad, Christian Shearhod, heard what his son was told at his daycare, he quickly took his son down the road for a manicure.
In a video posted to TikTok, Shearhod's 3-year-old son, Ashton, proudly requests pink nail polish before receiving a full manicure and pedicure at a West Hollywood nail salon.
“I really just wanted to make sure that he didn’t have guilt or shame, because it is something that he enjoyed”
At the end of the video, a bright and happy Ashton shows off his freshly manicured, pink nails.
Shearhod then spoke to the school the next day:
“I just told them, 'Hey, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say that kind of thing to Ashton, kind of let him do his own thing,'”
The video has since gone viral on TikTok, receiving over 1.2 million likes and 23,000 comments with people sending in their support:
“As a teacher, I am so sorry. I always tell my students there aren’t ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ things. Just things that we like.”
“I’m a girl, and work on cars. My brother-in-law loves the colour pink. My son loves his nails polished. The earth still turns the right way.”
