When I read the site name, Hair And Nails, I thought now how do you call that a fetish. It sounds like a Korean beauty salon where you can get a manicure while you’re sitting under the dryer. Nevertheless, I checked out the review and instantly thought of the female head of HR at my last job. She was Italian and about 38 but she was obsessed with trying to look younger. After all, as if often the case in traditional Italian families, she was still living at home since she’d never been married.

Her answer was to do be as over-the-top feminine as she could be. Sometimes trying to appear extra womanly does in fact make some women appear like streetwalkers or even, as if they might be drag queens. Given her position in the company there were of course all sorts of intimidated fellows that probably did think of her as a ball breaker. I always thought she was nice even if I thought she tried a tad hard to show off her womanly wiles.

Anyway, I remember that when I sat in her office for any meetings I had regarding some of the new employees I was training, I’d become almost mesmerized by her long French tips. Sometimes, she’d tap them on the desktop while she waited for a document to printout. I remember if she ever handed me something, most of the time one of her super groomed talons scratched me. I have to admit with some guilt that I always imagined those nails left some major love tracks on the backs of the younger fellows, the self-professed cougar sometimes picked up at the local singles’ bar.

I wasn’t always sure that having such long hair actually made her look younger but it did draw you attention downwards to her tiny little waist and her well-toned little round butt. Definitely, a strict diet of protein bars and obsessive visits to the gym did keep her slim and trim. I must admit that I figured my hands would fit nicely around her slender midsection.

Obviously, I kept most of my inappropriate thoughts to myself. Granted, if you did give her a compliment, she never seemed inclined to be anything but gracious. When you put that much work into your appearance, it’s hard to say that men who notice you are anymore obsessed with your looks than you are yourself.

Nevertheless, I knew that part of the attraction for me was the juxtaposition of feminist power with the somewhat stereotypical displays of idealized feminine beauty. The fact that she could fire me, scratch my eyes out or strangle me with her luxurious mane made me as respectful as I was secretly lustful.