Why Male Athletes, Actors, and Celebrity Chefs Are Painting Their Fingernails
Elliot Costello met 10-year old Thea over a game of tic-tac-toe.
It was 2013, and Costello was visiting Hagar International in Cambodia, a human rights group that had recently taken over Thea’s orphanage owing to the abuse its owner was inflicting on the children living there. For two years after her father died, Thea lived at that orphanage, where she was regularly physically and sexually abused.
“Thea picked up a blue marker and colored in all of my nails,” Costello recalled. “After learning of her story, I was moved by her ordeal, but more so by the love she still had in her heart and the pride she had for her future.”
Costello returned home to Melbourne, Australia, with his nails still blue.
Now, Costello and nearly 3,000 men and women are taking steps to combat childhood abuse through social media. The Polished Man campaign asks men to paint one fingernail as a way to show their support.
Celebrities such as Mario Batali, Alec Baldwin, and Hugh Jackman are participating by painting a fingernail and sharing an image on social media using the hashtag #PolishedMan. The campaign ends in mid-October, with fund-raising efforts continuing through Nov. 10.
The campaign was launched by Costello’s organization YGAP, which operates social enterprises and fund-raising campaigns around the world. When his team returned to Australia after that initial meeting with Thea, they found that one in five children globally will experience physical or sexual violence before the age of 18. Alone, 150 million girls and 73 million boys will be sexually abused.
“It was a statistic that couldn’t be ignored, because we had seen it firsthand through Thea,” Costello said in an email.
In the last two years, the campaign has raised $475,000 AUD (about $350,000 USD) and has seen nearly 4,000 participants. To date, there have been about 3,500 posts on Instagram alone. Funds go to emergency care organizations supporting children affected by abuse and invest in preventive measures to help mitigate the risk of exposure to violence.
Hagar International, where Thea is now living, is the international beneficiary. In the United States, YGAP selected The New York Center for Children as its sole beneficiary.
Costello’s nail color varies from week to week; he has sported blue, pink, and the Polished Man logo. A big fan of the Essendon Football Club in Melbourne, he wears the team colors of red and black during the season.
But just as important as the funds it has raised is the conversation the campaign has started, Costello said. “It is helping remove the stigma around the conversation of physical and sexual violence against children. I hope this campaign brings awareness to this issue globally while raising funds to help bring real change to trauma recovery and trauma prevention efforts.”
More than 90 percent of abuse against children is committed by men. Costello and others hope to foster a new group of male role models for kids.
“Our hope is to create a global movement that will lead change in the conversation about what it means to be a man,” he said. “By promoting positive male role models who support equality and the rights of children, we can create a community of male change makers.”
Tony Richardson is one of those change makers. The former NFL player got involved in early 2015 over breakfast with friends. Richardson looked over to his friend’s hand and saw the painted nail. After learning about Thea’s story and the statistics surrounding childhood abuse, Richardson had to act.
“It opens your eyes as a man; you want to get involved,” Richardson said. He later became an official ambassador for the campaign.
A former New York Jets fullback, Richardson has been sporting Jets green on one finger and red on a pinky nail. He’s gotten used to it, so much so that he might keep one nail going after the campaign ends this week.
“I’m in a lot of different circles; I get to meet a lot of people every day,” he said. “Here’s this big guy, why does he have fingernail polish? It opens up the conversation. It’s definitely a reach to have a man paint his fingernail.”
RELATED: Ugandan Children’s Book Empowers Kids to Speak Out Against Sexual Abuse
Richardson grew up in a military family, was a three-season varsity athlete, and went on to become one of the best fullbacks of all time. Nail polish doesn’t exactly fit in with that equation.
“All of those things carry a stigma of, you have to be a strong man,” he said. “It allows me to use my voice and my ‘celebrity’ to say I’m a man and all that, but as a man you stand up for things that are right.”
These days, Richardson works for the NFL’s Legends Community, helping professional football players transition off the field and back into normal life. He has taken to social media to promote the campaign, posing in a picture with fellow Polished Man chef Mario Batali.
“To have different men in different industries, all walks of the world, stand up for protecting our youth is great,” he said.
For now, Richardson is helping to raise awareness and funds through the campaign. But he’d love to get on the ground level and connect with the kids.
“As it grows, I want to be there for the kids when I can,” he said. “It’s definitely something I want to do.”
The Polished Man campaign allows men to “lock arms” and together say, “Not on my watch.”
“If we tackle one social injustice at a time, we can have a better world,” Richardson said.
Related stories on TakePart:
• How One Trip Abroad Totally Changed This Lawyer’s Career Path
• Serving Up Justice in the World’s Rape Capital—via Smartphones
Original article from TakePart
