In Which I Defend "I Broke A Nail!"

[Content note: pictures of a nail injuries under the fold.]

You read right. I can't believe I'm about to go there either...

So I have long written and thought and written and rambled about the fact that our society is kind of obsessed with hating on the stereotypically feminine. But as someone who embraces my femininity and is kiiiiinda obsessed with nail polish, I follow a bunch of polish Tumblrs. Recently, I was reminded of the "OMG I broke a nail!" thing.

It's a bit of a meme, isn't it? I mean, I think of the phrase and I immediately picture a vapid blonde woman, perhaps a cheerleader, who is foolishly freaking out about something "silly" like a broken nail. Think Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.

I mean, the phrase is clearly associated with women. If you Google image search this subject, here's a few things you'll find:

So, all around, this is something to be mocked, yes? SILLY WOMENZ.

But let me ask you this: have you ever actually broken a nail? That stuff hurts! And I'm not talking about a little chip out of the end...I'm talking about a real nail break. Let's take a look at that:

But you see, a person is much more likely to break a nail if they are grown long. And people who grow their nails long are traditionally women or associated with femininity--so this injury has long been played off as something silly and unimportant. "Women problems" if you will. But truth is that breaking a nail is not fun. It really, really isn't. It's on par with stubbing a toe and we don't mock that do we?

So yeah...this blog just happened. With picture illustrations and all.