Its that time of the year again when men and women absorb a bunch of UV rays in order to make themselves look more attractive (for some reason).
So, would someone kindly explain to me while looking like someone from a different (darker) ethnicity is considered more attractive than looking your usual colour? It gets even worse when in this brilliant country of mine, men appear to have an inkling towards white-coloured foreigners and treat pretty much everyone else with suspicion. I'm not trying to pass a racist remark here, its just the way things tend to be.
It gets even worse when you realise that getting tanned isn't good for you. Nope its not. Yes you can get cancer, or skin which looks like leather (hrm, curing leather is called "tanning"). Granted its not nearly as bad as staying away from the sun ALL the time, but I'm talking about doing it on purpose. Like going on a nice beach somewhere, or even worse, using one of those machines.
Meh, but I'm sure you've all heard this rhetoric tons of times. What you might not know is why tanning is considered 'attractive'. Predictably its one of those social conventions which started out borderline logically. So here we go:
Originally (Ancient Times) tanning was thought of as being ugly. Because it meant your family was poor and you were labouring in the fields all day and getting sunburnt. You inferior person. If you were rich you'd be at home all day doing whatever rich people do all day. Play the equivalent of modern computer games presumably. This meant you had white skin.
Then the industrial revolution came. This moved workers away from the fields and into factories which did not have the sun on them. Now the working class had white skin. Now if you were rich you wouldn't want people to think you were one of those lower class people who work in factories all day, so you'd stay sunbathing on the roof or whatever. You'd have darker skin, and they would have lighter skin.
Given in this day and age where a woman going to work isn't considered bad anymore, and that staying out in the sun too long is bad for you... WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE STILL DOING IT?
Llama
Vitamin D?
ReplyDelete@iced-beard:
ReplyDeleteYou can get that from other sources (such as fish) and you don't need to stay in the sun long enough to turn dark brown to get your daily dose of it.
@Llama
ReplyDeleteWell, dark brown is a bit too much, but some tanning is surely good. After all, if it wasnt, the mechanism wouldnt be there. I guess the problem you are pointing towards is the overtanning or sunburning, now that is dangerous beyond doubt.
some skin conditions actually benefit from staying in the sun e.g. psoriasis, eczema, dermatistis etc, obviously not excessive. some tanning is fine, but we must not overdo it
ReplyDeleteI admit: I've gone tanning three times. You see, I've always had this pasty white light-reflecting skin (think iced-over snow at noontime), and an old friend didn't want me ruining her wedding photos. So all of the bridesmaids went tanning. It felt weird laying 90% naked in a time-capsule like cryo chamber for baking. I hated the oily gunk I had to rub all over my body (ALL OVER) so that I wouldn't blister. Would I ever do it again? I can't say I wouldn't, but I certainly wouldn't use it as a way to stay tan. I don't get tan anyway.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I love my delicate white skin. And so does my husband. I think people in the Ancient Times had the right idea: white skin makes a person look fantastic.
I reckon it is merely due to the fact that tanning is associated with having free time time to go to the beach which in turn is considered as a positive thing.
ReplyDelete