Do HS Basketball Players Wear Polish?

We have a new addition to the P&P household. My 14 year old step-daughter is now living with us. Yep, I now have a teenager in the home. Ready or not, LOL. She is an avid basketball player. And pretty good, I might add. In fact, she just made the Varsity basketball team as a freshman. Awesome, right?

Ciara

Aaliyah- Rest In Peace

So let's talk a little about style. On one hand, my ten year old daughter, Summer, is a great mix when it comes to style. Not too girly but not too boyish either. And she is so serious about what she wears. When she's a teenager, I could so see her style mimicking that of Aaliyah's (RIP) or Ciara's (before she became a bit too raunchy). Summer also loves nail polish. Check out some of her summer colors here and here. (We also have a three year old son who definitely ain't wearing  polish- no matter what J. Crew says.)

My stepdaughter, on the other hand, well, I really can't call her style.

My Son Will Not Wear Polish

I'm sure many of you have heard about the J. Crew ad featuring designer, Jenna Lyons, with her son, Beckett, and his painted pink toe nails. Since this blog is called "Pearls and Polish," I felt that I needed to address the ad and the controversy that it has raised. Let me start off by saying that I am a mother, myself. I have two children- a nine year old daughter and a two year old son. And I will not put polish on my son's nails nor will I allow my son to put it on his own nails.

My son has seen me polishing my nails on multiple occasions. And as a curious child who wants to do everything that his mommy does, he has asked me to put some polish on his nails. Although I thought it was cute that he wanted to do what I was doing, I refused to put polish on his nails. I told him that nail polish is for girls, that he is a boy and that he cannot wear nail polish. He cried and got mad but there was no budging for me. I'm sorry but that is non-negotiable. I could just see the sheer horror on my husband's face when he came home from work and saw his son's polished pink nails... Now, I like to think that I am a progressive thinker that is very aware of gender constructs and how they affect children. I make a big deal about teaching my daughter about all of the things that she can and should do that are not traditionally for girls. But this right here... allowing my son to wear nail polish. Naaaahhhhh. Not going to happen. He can express himself in other ways- like by wearing his fireman boots around the house with his pajamas or by wearing his fireman hat to the doctor's office . But nail polish, no. That's taking it a bit too far. My daughter asked if we could just let him put on some clear polish to appease him. Nope, I wouldn't even allow that. I don't want that to confuse him into thinking that polish is OK....Now, does that mean that I think J. Crew should retract the ad? Or apologize for it? Absolutely not! Hey, if that's how Jenna raises her son- more power to her (although I would love to hear what Beckett's dad says about the polish). But in my house, its not going down like that. Your thoughts, perlas?...Besos, P&P.