Is it normal for a man to have long fingernails?

Every now and then I see a man who has a few or all of his fingernails grown out to a considerable length, and it strikes me as sort of gross. A woman with long nails, fine. A man with long nails, ewwww!

When I was in college there was this one older student, a 50ish man, long hair and beard, and he often had all his fingernails grown out half an inch. I'd see him in the library or around campus and he seemed quite unselfconscious about it, waving his hands as he was talking with someone, etc. Then one time just as the fall semester was beginning, he was right ahead of me in line at the cafeteria, and I saw he must have been letting his nails grow all summer, because now he had all of his nails grown out at least three-quarters of an inch. At that length even he seemed to be embarrassed, moving his hands as if trying to hide his long fingernails from the girls who were serving food to the line.

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61% Normal
Based on 23 votes (14 yes)
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Comments ( 6 )
  • I am trying to grow my nails out so I can sharpen them. >:3 I keep them clean, though. Might start colouring them black.

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  • wistfulmaiden

    I find very long nails off-putting especially on men because they always look dirty and grimy. Long toenails? Barf.

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  • Mersaphe

    Fingernails are a lot like beards. If you don't cut or shave them for a while, they will grow to be uncomfortably big. Sometimes I have had long fingernails but not because I was intentionally trying to grow them out. Often it was only that I was lazy or couldn't be bothered to cut them. Other times I hadn't even noticed that they were long because it seemed like I cut them about two weeks ago. I'm sure it has happened that a guy somewhere had long fingernails but not because he was trying to keep them long, but only because he forgot to cut them and was being super lazy. However, don't make the mistake of thinking that long fingernails on a guy are automatically unhygienic. We may not obsess over our nails like females do, but we know how to wash our hands and keep our fingernails clean. On the rare occasion that my nails have gotten to the point where I could compete with girls, my nails were perfectly white and clean looking. If I put my hand next to a girl's hand it would be hard to tell which hand belonged to who (except for the hair on my hand -- I have hairy hands).

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  • Crusades|

    I've seen people letting only their pinkie nails grow, for some reason, which is even more awkward.

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    • RainbowDischarge

      You ever try getting that sweet chunk of earwax or booger without a long pinky nail?

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    • dirtybirdy

      Cocaines a helluva drug, son.

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