Fire service defends nail painting after backlash

FIrefighters had their nails painted to support the Hard as Nails campaign

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has defended its decision to take part in a project in which firefighters painted their nails after negative online feedback.

The fire service posted on Facebook after crews from Stapleford fire station applied nail varnish to participate in the Hard as Nails initiative.

The campaign invites men to paint their nails then record how people react in an effort to "challenge stereotypes, build empathy and redefine masculinity".

While the post prompted many messages of support, there was also criticism from people who described it as "nonsense", "woke" and "embarrassing".

The fire service said Hard as Nails was a positive initiative and in response to the negative comments it said: "It's not taken up a huge amount of crew time and it's about opening up conversations about allyship and ultimately, men supporting women."

In a statement, a fire service spokesperson said: "Supporting the Hard As Nails initiative was a very small, but hopefully powerful, gesture and just one of many examples of the work we do with those in our communities.

"We're extremely proud of our team at Stapleford fire station who got involved in this.

"Unfortunately, we did receive some negative feedback when we celebrated this work on our Facebook page.

"This isn't new for us, unfortunately, and we do understand that people have different views.

"However, we are proud and passionate about making people safer right across the county, and that does look different now to how it did many years ago.

"We did also receive some overwhelmingly positive feedback on this work, too, which outweighed some of the negativity and was nice to see."

Jeff Buck, from Hard as Nails, painted his own nails green for the project

Jeff Buck, from Hard as Nails, worked with the Stapleford firefighters on their involvement.

He told the BBC he had been saddened by the negative comments and said it was import to have debates about masculinity - particularly in the light of Netflix drama Adolescence.

"The whole purpose of Hard as Nails is to stimulate that debate, to get people talking, to have those conversations about masculinity, gender identity, all those things that need to be discussed," said Mr Buck.

"It's a nice antidote to all of that toxic masculinity, isn't it?

"Here were firefighters, who are some of the bravest men we've got in our society, who are quite happy to symbolically paint a nail and say, 'Yes, I'm supporting this project.'"

Mr Buck, 70, from Nuthall, in Nottinghamshire, added: "It can be light-hearted but with a very serious message and a very serious purpose.

"It really struck me that, when I was reading those messages, people probably didn't really understand what it was about.

"They [the firefighters] they weren't having a manicure, they weren't all sitting around, drinking cocktails and having a manicure.

"They were doing something symbolic to show their support for a very important project."