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Alicia Keys Continues to Shun Gender Norms: ‘Let a Boy Paint His Nails!’

Alicia Keys (Allure)

Alicia Keys wants everyone to know it’s okay for boys get manicures. In an interview with Allure magazine, the songstress touched on what she was “sick” of and how those things influenced her newest album “Here.”

“I am so annoyed at the way we force boys to be fake strong — don’t cry, don’t be soft,” she said. “Let a boy be able to dance! Let a boy paint his nails. So, a boy wants to paint his nails. Who cares! All these strange, oppressive ideas.”

Keys, a trendsetter of the #NoMakeup movement who went on to say she gets to “choose at [any] given moment” to wear or not wear makeup, has explained her nongendered parenting style before.

Alicia Keys (Paola Kudacki/Allure)

While speaking to The Edit magazine in November, the singer said she does not allow her sons — 6-year-old Egypt and 2-year-old Genesis — to watch Disney films like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” citing the stereotypical depiction of gender roles as the reason why.

“I get real funky about the classics. I don’t like [my sons] watching it,” Keys said. “It’s totally sexist, misogynistic – she’s cleaning for seven dwarfs. There’s nothing wrong with a woman who chooses to stay at home with her family, it’s a hard job. But, it’s the way it’s spoken about.”

Another celebrity who shuns gender-specific interests with her child is Amber Rose. The podcast host attracted negative attention in November when she posted an Instagram video of her 3-year-old son, Sebastian, getting a manicure.

“We encourage our children to paint, draw and be creative, so why block them from their creativity when it comes to self expression?” the single mom wrote in the caption.

Many commenters accused the model of teaching her son “girl habits.”

She fought back on “Loveline With Amber Rose,” saying she expected a poor reception.

“I knew ignorant a– people were going to do that anyway,” she said. “It’s cool because it actually starts a conversation. When you start looking through the comments, you see people say, ‘You’re f—— dumb, what are you talking about? This has nothing to do with sexual orientation; it’s just a f—— color on nails.'”

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