We were wondering if we were going to be able to break out the "That's Racist!" kid today. We've covered how math is racist, the outdoors is racist, sleep is racist, and being in shape is racist. So, what's racist today?
According to the BBC, there's an alarming trend of white women going to the manicurist and getting their nails filed, buffed, and trimmed, but not polished. The BBC's headline frames it as a "class issue," but the article — which is real — eventually ties unpainted nails to white supremacy.
How the bare nails trend became a class issue https://t.co/2ztyWvUcrX
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) September 26, 2026
Tiffanie Turnbull and Simran Sohal report that "critics argue the bare nails trend actually says something about class, the hamster wheel of beauty standards, and who gets to define what is considered tasteful." They write:
Nail art's historical and creative roots are linked back to black, Latino, and Asian communities and the suggestion that bare nails are now a sign of high status could stigmatise bold manicures, they say.
"That trend really promotes blankness and this kind of sameness and erasure of culture and identity that is so important to black and brown communities," beauty journalist Kristina Rodulfo tells the BBC.
"They are often called elegant or tasteful, and these are often usually euphemisms that perpetuate white supremacist standards of beauty."
Could stigmatize bold manicures? Dear God.
One of the most insane articles of the week.
— Andrea Trunzo (@Keroppo) September 26, 2026
Can’t even talk about nails without bringing up race and white supremacy, you absolute fucking melts. And you wonder why your funding is going down the drain. Pratts.
— Murdocke (@murdocke) September 26, 2026
Forcing us to pay for this shit through any kind of taxation will be criminal, it’s time you stand on your own and we all get to watch you crash and burn
— Holly F. (@Hollyjeeny) September 26, 2026
If the BBC employs 2 reporters to write this story, no wonder they're having to make cuts in their programming and staff
— Kathy Quinlan (@KathyQuinlan14) September 26, 2026
FFS. They can turn anything into a race/class issue these days. Journos really are scraping the bottom.
— Rain2025 (@Rain2025323022) September 26, 2026
Thank you BBC for alerting us to the fact that saving money and leaving your nails plain is actually elitist and oppressive. I now feel awful that for the past 30 years my unpainted nails have been a walking microaggression.
— Emma (@Clumsychops) September 26, 2026
I can't believe you actually pay people to come up with this utter fucking bullshit. The beeb is now basically a trash glam-mag.
— The Elusive Meerkat (@MarketOfLace) September 26, 2026
You used to be serious journalists. Have you enjoyed reimagining and transforming the BBC into something clownlike and laughable?
— Stuart Barrow (@ArtBarrow) September 26, 2026
Only the BBC could link bare nails to being a white supremist. It's a disgraceful thing to say & one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.
— Eddie Simpson (@MrEddieSimpson) September 26, 2026
How did we get to a place where wanting secure borders or not being arsed to paint your nails makes someone a racist
Fk off BBC.
I absolutely love that the BBC explicitly contrasts black & Latino style not with white or European style, no, with HIGH CLASS style
— Scary Times (@Ferng6Ferng) September 26, 2026
If not wanting to look trashy is white supremacism, then you obviously associate looking trashy with non-white women.
— JRD (@JRD0000) September 26, 2026
What’s worse is people who’ve read this and now unironically believe women who don’t paint their nails are white supremacists
— Vincent (@dvb_eck) September 26, 2026
😂😂😂 Maybe some of us white supremacists just need to do the dishes, clean the bathroom and tend the garden — and all of that really gets in the way of maintaining colourful nails with sparkles on them. This is getting crazier by the day.
— Nicola Kegel (@NicolaKegel) September 26, 2026
And the opposite to blankness would be cultural appropriation 😐
— Jouhään (@Jouhaan999) September 26, 2026
What happens if a black woman doesn't paint her nails is she a white supremacist?
— Robbie (@Robbie_Reasons) September 26, 2026
I love all the new and exciting ways to be a white supremacist
— UncleSamoyed (@UncleSamoyed) September 26, 2026
Which race invented nail polish? We need to know who is culturally appropriating whom.
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