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Even if I were to allow that the discussion be gender-biased, I'm afraid this wouldn't be accurate... The very poor tend to have poor grooming habits, both in

Even if I were to allow that the discussion be gender-biased, I'm afraid this wouldn't be accurate... The very poor tend to have poor grooming habits, both in frequency and quality. As such, access to nail clippers is extremely limited... Further, the nature of living in extreme poverty forbids the biting of one's nails; you would be shocked at the amount of dirt and grime that gathers there after just a few days without access to a bathroom or running water.

Mz 17y ago
I am aware that it is not entirely gender-based. However, a quick google turns up this: http://www.efingernails.com/fingernails-history/ http://www.efingernails.com/fingernails-history/ Fingernails became shorter and the colours less intense during the 1980's when women became more interested in their work. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999dec28.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d... Thorsten Veblen wrote in his classic "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899). "It not only shows that the wearer is able to consume a relatively large value, but it argues at the same time that he consumes without producing." Like the constrictive corset of Veblen's time, long nails today signal which women are too rich and too feminine (wouldn't want the little darling to break a nail) to perform manual labor.
- najirama 17y ago
  Both of those links engender the proposition that fingernail length is indeed NOT a good indicator of class. The class status of women as a whole rose significantly in the 80's as women's pay relative to men's rose from 1980 to 1990 (from 60.2% to 71.6%): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/nyregion/03women.html?ex=1343793600&en=8941c5442f49a9a4&ei=5088 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/nyregion/03women.html?ex=1...
  - Mz 17y ago
    It is not as simple as that. Women going to work in large numbers means they stopped being part of a "leisure class". A non-working wife is a status symbol. It means the man makes enough that his wife doesn't need to work. Nothing is sweepingly one thing or the other. But, in general, long fingernails have historically been a status symbol/class indicator -- long, clean, well-groomed and often decorated (painted, treated with henna, etc), not long and filthy. Long fingernails are also a fairly strong "sex" symbol. One prostitute wrote in her biography that she could work at the mall by wearing very high heels and long, red fingernails. I will also add that long nails are an indicator of health (trying not to turn every discussion towards my medical condition, but my genetic disorder is how I know this one so well) -- and that tends to be linked to class in that wealthier classes tend to be better fed.

Mz 17y ago

I am aware that it is not entirely gender-based. However, a quick google turns up this: http://www.efingernails.com/fingernails-history/ http://www.efingernails.com/fingernails-history/ Fingernails became shorter and the colours less intense during the 1980's when women became more interested in their work. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999dec28.htm http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a41653-1999d... Thorsten Veblen wrote in his classic "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899). "It not only shows that the wearer is able to consume a relatively large value, but it argues at the same time that he consumes without producing." Like the constrictive corset of Veblen's time, long nails today signal which women are too rich and too feminine (wouldn't want the little darling to break a nail) to perform manual labor.

najirama 17y ago
Both of those links engender the proposition that fingernail length is indeed NOT a good indicator of class. The class status of women as a whole rose significantly in the 80's as women's pay relative to men's rose from 1980 to 1990 (from 60.2% to 71.6%): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/nyregion/03women.html?ex=1343793600&en=8941c5442f49a9a4&ei=5088 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/nyregion/03women.html?ex=1...
- Mz 17y ago
  It is not as simple as that. Women going to work in large numbers means they stopped being part of a "leisure class". A non-working wife is a status symbol. It means the man makes enough that his wife doesn't need to work. Nothing is sweepingly one thing or the other. But, in general, long fingernails have historically been a status symbol/class indicator -- long, clean, well-groomed and often decorated (painted, treated with henna, etc), not long and filthy. Long fingernails are also a fairly strong "sex" symbol. One prostitute wrote in her biography that she could work at the mall by wearing very high heels and long, red fingernails. I will also add that long nails are an indicator of health (trying not to turn every discussion towards my medical condition, but my genetic disorder is how I know this one so well) -- and that tends to be linked to class in that wealthier classes tend to be better fed.