America's "tanning" complex!
By maezee
@maezee (41988)
United States
February 5, 2012 1:52pm CST
I just got done tanning. I don't do it that often, but I like having a little color (not orange) and it helps my acne & eczema. I know it's not good for you, but it seems to be one of the many things I do ANYWAY regardless of consequences (I know, very responsible of me). So anyway, I was just thinking about America's obsession with being tan. Especially the ladies. We see it so much - teenagers, adults, etc - tanning outside during the summer, in a tanning booth, doing spray tans, or using Jergen's or self-tanning lotion. Everyone aspires to have a "California Tan" like all of the celebrities in Hollywood.
I know that in most other countries, tanned skin sometimes represents poverty or "working" folks (who work outside). I have a friend from Ecuador who says that the 'poorer' people are generally darker, and the richer people are generally lighter (so people tend to want to be lighter so as to look/be 'rich'). So why is it sometimes that TANNED skin in America represents someone who is 'rich'? Or someone who aspires to be 'rich'? What do "tan" and "pale" represent in your culture?
As far as tanning goes, we all know it's bad for us - the overexposure to UV rays. So it's just crazy what kind of a fad it is to tan when it's bad for us. AND why is it a fad in AMERICA but not most other countries?
How does YOUR country view the color of your skin?
4 responses
@lightrain (167)
• Shijiazhuang, China
6 Feb 12
Here in China,the skin do not stand for rich or poor.To some degree ,the color of skin will be a standard of beauty,especially for the girl and woman.In summar, they do not like to be burned under sunshine,and they would like to take some measures from preventing the UV rays,such us umbrellar , sun-protecting gloves,and sun glasses.And also ,people usually talked about the people's soil yellow skin eapecially for the girl and woman. those are my understanding of our nation skin cultrue.
But if you are foreigners,we do not have discriminattion ,you are warmly welcome in China!!
@Galena (9110)
•
5 Feb 12
I'm a white girl in England.
I prefer the look of pale skin. it just looks more even, stays younger for longer, as sun damage causes premature aging, and I just think it looks healthier.
it's fashionable to have a tan, but I don't care. fashion is just to tell people with no brains in their head what they should wear or look like.
I go out of my way to stay as pale as I can. at 31, I still often have to prove I'm 18. which is a result.
I can't understand why people think sun damage (which is what a tan is) is attractive. and some people even apply fake sun damage.
I like my skin to have a healthy porcelain glow.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
5 Feb 12
being american, I am in the minority, or so it seems. I try to keep my fair skin, fair. I know that my family has a history of skin cancer, so I am not willing to take that chance of not wearing a high spf sunscreen.
The common folk aspire to be like the rich and famous. The famous actresses tend to be tan so the rich want to be tan as a status symbol.
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
5 Feb 12
I think if it comes to the colour of the skin it's still the same as during the slavery times.. the darker the skin the lower on the ladder you are (and the less brains you seem to have).
People with a dark skin are still the underdog.. and even people with dark/coloured skins do discriminate because of the colour of the skin.
Black people do so also... if their neighbour has a darker skin he is worth less.
Asian discriminate too (black and white people I found terrible remarks about that here in discussions).
Btw.. my dad is black my mother is white my husband is black, my kids are white and I am not black and not white (so you belong to no group at all).
I think people who love to get a sunburn or tanning don't count.
If we see the people over here (also male) we don't find them look great (it's a different kind of "brown", not always orange but still a weird colour. I think we don't associate them with being rich but with closer to the partly a social ones, always gossiping and fake.
I will never understand why there is such a big group of people who will do everything to look as "brown" as possible but look down on people with a different skin colour as they have. But as I said already: they are not the only one.
