There is a lot of talk in 2019 surrounding gender and the expected behaviors of a given person based on their identified gender. Well, Alicia Keys had an experience the other day at the nail salon with her 4-year-old son that she wanted to share with social media. Keys took her son Genesis to get his nails done. He picked a rainbow manicure and so the manicurist painted each fingernail a different color. When it was done he turned to Alicia and said "Mommy, I don't want this on my nails." Alicia responded saying, "why? you were so sure, you were good." Genesis then responds saying "people are not gonna like it."
The Empire State of Mind singer then goes on to reflect on the incredible judgments we place on one another everyday. In her Instagram post, Keys says "it got me thinking how completely judged we are all of the time." She continues saying, "The way I see it, is that there is masculine and there is feminine energies inside of us all." Alicia expresses that "it gets concerning for me that we can't just explore these different sides of ourselves."
It is both alarming and insightful that a 4-year-old would be aware of the reaction of others to his manicure. While many will think Alicia is too out there for bringing her son to a nail salon others will champion her openness to allow her son to explore his interests regardless of the opinions of others.
