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Recursion

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70. My neighbors are appalled that I tan

Mon Sep 23, 2013, 07:13 AM

Sep 2013

Personally, I'm a pasty man; I need my vitamin D. But in a given 30 minutes of programming, there are 10 minutes of skin whitening commercials in India. It's fucked up.

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If light skin is so desirable, why do white people get tans? [View all] MoonRiver Sep 2013 OP

I don't! Lizzie Poppet Sep 2013 #1

I avoid it too, but I know so many people who are obsessed with tanning. MoonRiver Sep 2013 #3

Yep...I know a few. Lizzie Poppet Sep 2013 #5

"...the pastier, the tastier! " LOL! BlueJazz Sep 2013 #7

I think the dark tan is really a thing of the past rl6214 Sep 2013 #19

actually, yes it does, sort of... magical thyme Sep 2013 #89

Growing up in Florida, my Mom had her sons wear Eleanors38 Sep 2013 #76

For the same reason women wear eyeshadow snooper2 Sep 2013 #2

yes MoonRiver Sep 2013 #4

It says that you have been outside. delta17 Sep 2013 #6

Tanned all over has status; tanned face, arms and legs from working out of doors does not. FarCenter Sep 2013 #10

yes, tanning is a status symbol now. Scout Sep 2013 #83

A bit of a silly post but here's the proper answer. go west young man Sep 2013 #8

The abstract says tanning promotes self-esteem, which reduces death anxiety daleo Sep 2013 #14

So, I remember being a kid pipi_k Sep 2013 #9

"I don't tan easily, so I gave up." KansDem Sep 2013 #34

I gave up tanning at 19 when I read in a Cosmo magazine that a bad sunburn CrispyQ Sep 2013 #39

OMG pipi_k Sep 2013 #88

One reason is to show that you have enough money Greybnk48 Sep 2013 #11

It's my understanding that tanning and the desirability of tanned skin SheilaT Sep 2013 #28

Your second point is the historical one. Never heard your first point. WinkyDink Sep 2013 #45

For the same reason those with curly hair want it straight, and those with straight hair Xipe Totec Sep 2013 #12

I remember that phenomenon when I was a kid. MoonRiver Sep 2013 #18

i think you're taking whiteness a bit too literally BOG PERSON Sep 2013 #13

I'm sure that's part of it laundry_queen Sep 2013 #15

Several years ago I saw a chart that plotted sun screen use vs anti-depressants LiberalArkie Sep 2013 #23

I agree I feel better when I get sunshine. Being in Ohio were it is cloudy, raining or snowing most doc03 Sep 2013 #27

A huge percentage of us have a vitamin D deficiency Arugula Latte Sep 2013 #43

I go into a funk during the fall time change Ruby the Liberal Sep 2013 #59

Get out and hunt more! Feel better, eat better. Eleanors38 Sep 2013 #77

Hunt? Ruby the Liberal Sep 2013 #90

We all kill to eat, but I understand. Eleanors38 Sep 2013 #92

Leisure class signal treestar Sep 2013 #16

exactly, glad to see someone else knows this also. It shows you don't have to work, but can sit in uppityperson Sep 2013 #53

Browns want to be white? JustAnotherGen Sep 2013 #17

It's a generalization, but drop by a grocery store, or mall in Dubai and check out the Skin Whitenin JCMach1 Sep 2013 #48

See post 16 JustAnotherGen Sep 2013 #56

Arab and South Asians have a completely different history though... JCMach1 Sep 2013 #57

Agree on convoluted and complicated JustAnotherGen Sep 2013 #62

Skin bleaching is a massive business malaise Sep 2013 #63

People have pointed out that the new Miss America couldn't have won a pageant in India. KamaAina Sep 2013 #84

I'm not sure the premise is completely correct, light skin... yawnmaster Sep 2013 #20

No, it's because white people are so secure in their privilege KitSileya Sep 2013 #21

Sun exposure improves, or at leasts *masks*, a lot of skin disorders... Smarmie Doofus Sep 2013 #22

I am fortunate that I tan very easily, I spend a day in the sun and get a great tan. Then after doc03 Sep 2013 #24

I always wondered that, myself. GoCubsGo Sep 2013 #25

I think it's like hair. Most people don't like whatever they've got. Egalitarian Thug Sep 2013 #26

Love that quotation! MoonRiver Sep 2013 #29

It should be our national Mantra. n/t Egalitarian Thug Sep 2013 #30

Yep MoonRiver Sep 2013 #31

Ha! I agree. Eleanors38 Sep 2013 #78

Not so much... bobclark86 Sep 2013 #32

Silly isn't it? Not only that ladies, it makes you wrinkled and aged prematurely. Cleita Sep 2013 #33

I don't know any browns who want to be white. bravenak Sep 2013 #35

I probably should have explained more in my OP. MoonRiver Sep 2013 #37

Oh yeah. bravenak Sep 2013 #38

I don't. LWolf Sep 2013 #36

A fair percentage of people are just peculiar Bosonic Sep 2013 #40

Microwave Lady! MoonRiver Sep 2013 #50

You answered your own question in your subject line Glassunion Sep 2013 #41

I've heard sociologists suggest that it's to show they can afford not to work. Donald Ian Rankin Sep 2013 #42

Message auto-removed Name removed Sep 2013 #44

Welcome to DU hhjj! panader0 Sep 2013 #46

How do feel about drones? uppityperson Sep 2013 #49

Tans != skin colour. (nt) Posteritatis Sep 2013 #47

Because tanned white, rather than white, is the perceived ideal? Democracyinkind Sep 2013 #51

I used to prefer tanned skin when I was younger LittleBlue Sep 2013 #52

It looks nicer. sibelian Sep 2013 #54

I'm a white person and I don't get a tan. Of course that's not for lack of trying. kestrel91316 Sep 2013 #55

Tanning adds vitamin D and boosts endorphins Ruby the Liberal Sep 2013 #58

Oh, that's another benefit for me I forgot about laundry_queen Sep 2013 #81

There is a connection between ovarian cysts and acne? Ruby the Liberal Sep 2013 #91

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) isn't just ovarian cysts laundry_queen Sep 2013 #93

Thailand�s skin whitening craze: How far will it go? yuiyoshida Sep 2013 #60

Allure magazine does an annual Beauty issue. Allure is about as mainstream as you can get Number23 Sep 2013 #61

This deserves it's own thread! JustAnotherGen Sep 2013 #64

Girl, we are coming into our own, aren't we? Number23 Sep 2013 #85

Stops them from looking insipid. dipsydoodle Sep 2013 #65

Because they're dying to get skin cancer theHandpuppet Sep 2013 #66

I can't avoid getting tanned. I'm outside more than in and I have a dark complexion to begin with. B Calm Sep 2013 #67

I'm naturally tan. a la izquierda Sep 2013 #68

caucasians may be like some color, but they still wanna be caucasians. KG Sep 2013 #69

My neighbors are appalled that I tan Recursion Sep 2013 #70

I know a lot of people Dorian Gray Sep 2013 #71

I'm as white as the new blown snow madokie Sep 2013 #72

2 of my kids are like that laundry_queen Sep 2013 #82

Actually, people used to avoid tans because it meant you were low-class and had to work in fields. DanTex Sep 2013 #73

Sociologist Thoorstein Veblen, the man who coined tblue37 Sep 2013 #74

Never understood that myself LostOne4Ever Sep 2013 #75

The Power erpowers Sep 2013 #79

Fashion AngryAmish Sep 2013 #80

Best OP ever!!!! NCTraveler Sep 2013 #86

Maybe because skin that is very pale sometimes indicates a poor state of health? Zorra Sep 2013 #87