In one of his recent posts, he posed with his cat and was sporting bright, colourful nail paints on his hands. Obviously, we were all for the look because those were some truly amazing shades.

However, when certain people questioned him for wearing the shade, his response was the perfect answer to illogical gender stereotypes. 

Through his Instagram story, he shared that while most women appreciated his painted nails, most men were in disbelief and questioned him over it. 

That was when he stated, in clear terms, that while men have accepted studs, long hair, etc., nail paint is still not considered unisex. And that was quite illogical. 

This isn’t the first time Grover has painted his nails. He was even sporting a bright color when he performed his poem Hum Kaagaz Nahin Dikhaenge for Spoken Fest 2020. 

However, this is perhaps the first time that he has had to explain what he feels about wearing nail paint. And his explanation is a much-needed wake-up call to people who unnecessarily categorize accessories and make-up on the basis of gender. 

Coming from the same world of conditioning as everyone here, but now when I think about it – it feels so bizarre that a simple act of putting color on your nails can be considered gendered and scandalous. 

Accessories don’t have to ‘gendered’, and a silent but strong way of hitting back on toxic masculinity and illogical gender norms is to own up to things that make you feel your best self. 

All images are screenshots from Varun Grover’s Instagram account unless specified otherwise.