Firefighters defended the decision to participate in a nail painting campaign to encourage ‘alliance’ and ‘redefine masculinity’ in the UK after critics claimed that the scheme was ‘awake’.
Firefighters from Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service participated in a ‘man-icure’ organized by charity hard as nails to encourage gender identity and toxic masculinity debate.
The power posted a photo of a fire -fighter with red and green painted nails with the heading “something as simple as painting your nails can cause a much greater discussion”.
“It is a reminder that small actions can break down barriers, encourage alliance and create spaces where men feel comfortable having open conversations.”
But one resident struck back and said, “While the LGBTQ+ & Woke Brigade will love this, you alienate a much larger demographics by placing CR ** like this!”.
Another added: “I’m all to talk about men’s mental health, but serious. What kind of picture are you trying to paint? I’m pretty sure the public doesn’t want to see it.”
Others defended the move, with one user saying, “Keep going with the great work that breaks down the boundaries for everyone. Looking forward to supporting it further in the future.”
“If you cut someone out of their car or save their home from destruction, they won’t care what color your nail polish is,” another user added.
Jeff Buck, 70, has difficulty saying that the firefighters ‘do something symbolic’ for a ‘very important project’.
“Here were firefighters, some of the bravest men we have in our society, who are very happy to symbolically paint a nail and say,” Yes, I support this project, “he told the BBC.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Fire Service said: “The support of the hard as Nails initiative was a very small, but hopefully powerful, gesture and just one of the many examples of the work we do with those in our communities.
‘We are very proud of our team at Stapleford Fire Station that got involved. Unfortunately, we received some negative feedback when we celebrated this job on our Facebook page.
“Unfortunately, this is not new for us, and we do understand that people have different views. However, we are proud and passionate about making people safer across the country, and it now looks different from how it did years ago.
“We also received some overwhelming positive feedback on this work, which exceeded the negativity of the negativity and was nice to see.”
