I read an article the other day which chronicled the decline in celebrity tanning. It mentioned celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow, whose porcelain skin is proof that you can be beautiful with pale skin. The trend for paleness is also about women wanting to protect their skin from the damaging effects of the sun.
It’s a great concept, but I’m not sure it’s totally caught on yet.
For many years, people have associated a deep bronze tan with health and beauty, but this was not always the case. In the early 1800s, pale skin was in fashion. Tan skin was a stigma associated with the lower classes, who were mostly farmers. The wealthy took great measures to protect their skin from the sun by using parasols.
The Industrial Revolution brought a dramatic shift in the economy and social classes. The lower classes began spending their days indoors laboring in factories, and sunbathing became an indulgence of the wealthy. Tan skin became a mark of affluence, a hallmark of having time and money to vacation. A shift in clothing styles and the introduction of the bikini in 1946 further encouraged the tanning obsession.
The relationship between sun exposure and skin cancer has been recognized for some time. In fact, the term “sunlight cancer” was coined in 1933. The first tanning salon opened in Orange, California in the late 1970s. Despite the knowledge that sun exposure is harmful, causing skin cancer (including melanoma, the deadliest type) and (*gasp*) wrinkles, people continue to risk their health for bronzed skin.
Just as smoking has become unfashionable due to knowledge of its association with cancer and heart disease, we hope to discourage behaviors which lead to harmful UV exposure. The advent of self-tanning lotions and spray tans has likely delayed the shift in attitude, because now a glow can be achieved without the UV exposure.
However, in a survey this year by the Skin Cancer Foundation 53% believed they don’t look better with a tan, and 63% said they aren’t more attracted to someone with a tan. Is the appeal of tan skin finally waning?
