The Significance of Tan Skin...What is it?

[Darby Douglas]

Amongst the many things we will be doing this summer to celebrate the FANTASTIC weather, some of us will be doing something pretty weird. While a good portion of us are cooling off in the pool, some people will just lay there in a thin coat of sun screen, tanning. I admit, getting a nice summery glow is amongst one of the things I love about the three month break from school. Some people even skip the Laying-in-the-Sun part to hit the tanning beds. But why do so many girls love tanning and their brown (sometimes orange) glow?

In the Philippines things are very different when it comes to tanning. While girls in the U.S. LOVE their tan, girls in the Philippines will do anything to get rid of their brown complexion. This is true for many Eastern cultures. The reason these ladies would prefer porcelain skin to tan skin is because having brown skin means you are outside. If you are outside, you are working in fields. So that means, girls with light skin must be inside all day long. They have enough money so someone else can do work for them.  Pretty different than how it is over here, huh? While we bake in the sun wearing tank tops and shorts, these ladies cover their skin in attempts to shield themselves from the sun.

Last summer I visited Hawaii. A good portion of the population is Japanese and Filipino. While I was walking down the streets of Waikiki in a tank top, I would also see ladies decked out in long sleeve shirts, sun glasses, floppy hats, pants and shoes. Far from cold, these ladies are doing everything they can to NOT get tan. In the Philippines, women with the money will get their skin bleached. They will go to salons like American girls do, but unlike us, they will pay to get their skin a lighter shade.  

We know why women in eastern countries prefer light skin now. It represents wealth. But why do American women prefer tanner skin? Not to mention the health risks of too much Ultra Violet Rays, what is the American excuse for changing our natural complexion? It’s crazy that women on two sides of the planet will disagree on tanning versus bleaching this much. What are your thoughts? Why do American girls yearn for glowing skin? How can something we think is beautiful here in American be so revolting in eastern countries? What does tan skin signify in an American girl? Why do you tan?

[Katie Hughes]

I think we have been conditioned to believe that tan skin is sexy and desirable. While Filipino women want light skin because it means they are wealthy, I think american girls want tan skin because in some twisted way it means that they are sexy and doing the best they can to fit in. I love a tan more than anyone, but the shocking difference between these 2 cultures is shocking

[Lauren Olson]

I think people think that tan skin looks healthy. I do admit I like a glow during the summer. Years down the road, when all these girls who tan, in tanning beds, have ropey, frecklie skin, then they would have wished they stayed inside.

[Ben Luke]

I don't know the reason why everyone loves tan skin. Maybe its just cause people think they look better. But the thing I really don't understand is why we'll have a day where it is 80's and sunny and some of my friends still prefer to go to a tanning salon instead. Why pay when the Sun is free?

[Davy Mellado]

Purposeful tanning is pretty much saying your not content with your current skin complexion for whatever reason. If you feel the need to change it, that's ok. But you must realize the difference in more eastern cultures and ours is gigantic. In India, women are made to walk a minimum of ten feet behind their husbands and by law they must accept any beating their husband will give to them. So as we all know, our cultures are incredibly different. But what the whole tanning scene is about is women trying to gain a cultural stand in their life. I think that it's how we see people (women especially) that needs to change, not weither or not we tan.

[megan bryk]

I completely agree, american girls love to be tan.  Over the summer I spend most of my days laying out tanning.  I love being tan in the summer but there is defintaly an upsession with being tan and some people take it too far where it is dangerious.  It is also interesting that around the world people feel different about being tan, like in the Philippines people don't like being tan.

[Rachel Izydorek]

i know there is an obsession with being tan, especially during prom season. but i'll admit im one of those girls who wants to be tan. i tan easily and my parents joke that during the summer im adopted, but im also very self conscious about being tan. i feel really uncomfortable when im white. when i was little i was tan year round because my family went on vacation mid-February when the summer tan was starting to fade. i got used to tan lines and dark skin, so now when my tan fades in march i start to freak out and wish for summer. 

yes, im fake tanning for prom, but i refuse to overdo it. i dont want to LOOK like i fake tan, i just want my dress to look nice against my skin. most people cant tell that ive gotten tanner, but i feel much more comfortable now. its sad, i know. Also, some of us cant help that super tan girl look. if you see pictures from summer or the beginning of the year, you'll see i look like im obsessed with tanning, but really im just a lifeguard. i cant help getting dark, my genes got mixed up and somehow this Polish girl gets black in the summer.

 

now all the snooki look-alikes? they just make us accidental dark kids look bad

[Mike Artov]

First of all, i didn't know that if you are more white in the Philippines, you show more weath. Thats pretty interesting but, i really dont know why girl like the tan look.