A dad has taken his toddler son for a manicure after the teacher said "painting your nails is only for girls" as he said he wants his three-year-old to enjoy his childhood without "strict gender norms".
Christian Shearhod, a Los Angeles County teacher, said his son first expressed interest in nail varnish around the age of two. After his son was told it was "only for girls", Christian took to TikTok to share a video of himself taking his toddler to get his nails done.
In the video, which now has more than seven million views, he said: "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!"
Christian's son, Ashton, is then seen at a West Hollywood nail salon proudly shouting "I want pink!" before sitting down for the full mani-pedi.
Speaking to NBC News, Christian said since Ashton's interest in painting his nails: "We started painting our nails together."
After Ashton came home upset about what his teacher had said. Christian said he and his girlfriend had hoped to cheer the tot up by taking him to the nail salon.
"I just really 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," Christian said.
He added he wants his son to enjoy his life to the fullest at his age, without "strict gender norms".
The next day at school, Christian said he spoke to Ashton's day-care teachers. "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'," Christian recalled.
The TikTok video has been flooded with supportive comments for the dad and son. One user commented: "I'm a girl, and work on cars. My brother-in-law loves the colour pink. My son loves his nails polished. The earth still turns the right way."
Another wrote: "As a teacher, I am so sorry. I always tell my students there aren't 'boy' or 'girl' things. Just things that we like."
While there's been a whole host of supportive comments, Christian did admit there have been some negative comments and inappropriate questions, including from one user who asked: "So he is gay?"
Christian recorded a video response saying: "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."
Christian actively shares videos about his life on TikTok, including life with a transgender girlfriend while he identifies as straight. With more than 990,000 followers, he highlights aspects of his life, including his relationship, which he said makes him a target for hateful and transphobic comments.
"I get stuff on my videos like, 'You're gay, you should go kill yourself.' Like, all that kind of stuff. I've never experienced that kind of hate," he said.
