Makeup is an amazing tool, arming women with a way to boost their confidence and express themselves. But a new product is now trying to prove makeup, specifically nail polish, can also be a tool in arming women against sexual assault.
Four North Carolina State University students are developing a nail polish line, Undercover Colors, that would be able to detect date rate drugs in your drink. Here’s how it works: Before taking a sip of your cocktail, stir the drink with one lacquered finger. If a date rape drug—GHB, Rohypnol or Xanax—is present, the polish color will change, according to the brand’s Facebook page.
Date rape drugs are odorless, colorless and tasteless, making it impossible to know your drink has been tainted. Since it’s pretty much impossible to keep an eye—or a hand—on your drink all night to make sure some sick-o doesn’t spike it (oh, the crazy lengths women have to go to, amiright?), this powerful polish gives you the peace of mind that nothing happened to your cosmo while you were busy socializing and acting normal. Plus, since all it takes is a subtle stir with a finger to SVU your cocktail, you can test it without looking totally paranoid.
Is this just another way to put the responsibility on women to prevent rape rather than on men to not rape women? You could make that argument. But the creators say their hope is for these protective polishes to shift fear to the perpetrator.
“Through this nail polish and similar technologies, we hope to make potential perpetrators afraid to spike a woman’s drink because there’s now a risk that they can get caught,” the Facebook page states. This doesn’t address the fundamental problem that men might think drugging a woman is OK if they won’t get caught. But the idea of exposing their actions and creating accountability is a good place to start, and one step closer to the large-scale systemic change we desperately need. At least it’s less intense than anti-rape underwear.
The team behind Undercover Colors is still raising funds and working on product development. For updates on their progress follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
