Is Roofie-Detecting Nail Polish Empowering or Anti-Feminist?

Let’s be real: Not every girl and woman has the time, patience, or dedication to paint her nails every time she decides to go out. But, if that nail polish could potentially stop you from being roofied, would you make the time for it? Or would you fight against it, saying that the idea of creating a means for women to protect themselves actually promotes rape culture?

This is the topic that’s been hotly debated on the Internet over the last week, with some congratulating the men responsible for creating a nail polish that changes color in the presence of certain “date-rape” drugs, like Rohypnol and GHB, while others are decrying the creation as something that masks the real problem: teaching at-risk men not to rape women in the first place.

So it all started when a team of students in the Materials Science & Engineering department at North Carolina State University unveiled their product, which they named "Undercover Color. " According to their Facebook, Undercover Colors can be used by the wearer to "discreetly ensure her safety by simply stirring her drink with her finger. If her nail polish changes color, she’ll know that something is wrong." The team won over $11,000 in a contest hosted by North Carolina State's Entrepreneurship Initiative program and was a finalist in a startup showcase, which brought them to the attention to an investor who put a 100 grand into their company. All of which led to some major press attention and major criticism online...from women.

The problem, it seems, is that putting the burden of protection on women can actually backfire, putting ultimate blame on them as well. And the fact the team is made of all guys didn't help.

“Well-intentioned products like anti-rape nail polish can actually end up fueling victim blaming,” Alexandra Brodsky, founder and co-director of a survivor group working to put an end to campus sexual assault, explained to ThinkProgress. “Any college students who don’t use the special polish could open themselves up to criticism for failing to do everything in their power to prevent rape.”

And women’s issues blog Feministing brings up some other important points relating to the nail polish, specifically about how much it actually helps women prevent rape. As they point out, date rape drugs aren’t commonly used in sexual assault scenarios. It’s far more likely that alcohol itself, without anything lacing it, will be the culprit in the majority of sexual assault scenarios. They also bring up the morality of profiting off something that doesn’t actually help to prevent rape so much as avoid it. As Salon writer Jenny Kutner puts it, “might these resources be better allocated trying to teach people not to rape?”

While it’s laudable that people are trying to put their creative energies towards finding solutions for preventing rape — and clearly the nail polish creators have good intentions at heart — men profiting off of something that could end up putting the blame on women isn’t going to sit well with very many of those women.

But a solid A for effort, guys.

[Pic via Flickr - James Lee]