The toddler was upset because his teacher said nail painting is only something girls could do
When Ashton came home from school one day, upset, because his teacher had told him that painting ones nails is just for girls. The father, Christian Shearhod, doesn’t want his son to be affected negatively by “strict gender norms” and that is why he took his son to a nail salon to get his nails painted.
Manicure
In a TikTok video, Shearhod shares how his son came home upset: “My son came home from school upset because his teacher told him that painting his nails is only for girls, so today I’m taking him to the nail shop!” In the rest of the clip, Ashton, the three-year-old son, can be seen at a West Hollywood nail salon declaring that he wants pink on his nails. Then the salon gives him a mani- and pedicure. The clip ends with Ashton proudly showing off his pink nails.
Nail polish
According to his father, Ashton was interested in nail polish when he was only two years old. He told NBC News: “Since then, we started painting our nails together.” And that is why, when Ashton came home from school, Shearhod wanted to cheer him up. “I really just wanted to make sure that he didn’t have guilt or shame, because it is something that he enjoyed, and we had done together multiple times,” he explains.
Support
Shearhod also talked to the teacher at Ashton’s school. He explained: “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.’” A lot of people support Shearhod and Ashton. One commenter said: “As a teacher, I am so sorry. I always tell my students there aren’t ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ things. Just things that we like.” Unfortunately, there are some people who commented that the boy must be gay because he likes nail polish. Shearhod responds to those people too: “He is literally three years old; he can’t be gay, because he doesn’t have a sexuality yet, and you’re not going to assign him a sexuality because he likes feminine things or things outside of his typical gender norm.” The father wants to use his TikTok page to help LGBTQ students. He explains: “I just want to inspire students to really want to be themselves, unfiltered.”
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Source: NBC News | Image: Unsplash, Hitomi Bremmer