VickyC.me

So I’ve been in Budapest for a few weeks now. I noticed that every block has at least 1 tanning salon. The number of tanned people here is staggering. I can understand people wanting to be a little tanned, but to be full on orange? I don’t get it.

I’m not going to get into the whole premature aging and skin damage argument, because everyone’s heard that already! So what is the appeal of tanning?

Maybe, celeb culture? All the celebs are tanned and come out with their own tan inducing products. Lohan and the Kardashian sisters are among the many celebrities who have marketed their own products.. And those crazy kids on Jersey Shore didn’t help with their whole GTL lifestyle. For those of you who aren’t well versed in MTV lingo, GTL is Gym, Tanning, Laundry – The Guido trifecta of awesomeness.

So, who is buying into all of this incessant marketing? Yet again, it’s those crazy kids! In 2006, Time magazine reported that approximately 2.3 million teens visit tanning salons in the USA on a yearly basis. That doesn’t  even factor in all the people that hit the beach to get their tan on..

And why? According to some, a sunkissed glow implies “healthy” – note how I didn’t say orange! For some people, tanning is necessary – take cheerleaders. They’re always perma-tanned; it’s part of their uniform. And a tan does denote health as it suggests that the person isn’t hiding in their house/garage, which from a social standpoint, is good – it means you’re not a hermit.

But then, if you think about it, being pasty and white used to be the fashionable thing. It meant social status. Dark skin implied hard work out-doors. Even in art, most of the subjects in the 16th – 19th centuries had pale, milky white skin – they weren’t orange! And what about geishas? For them, white skin was considered the most beautiful.

Ok, so with that in mind, maybe tanned is hot now because it suggests that you are loaded enough to go somewhere hot and sunny to vaycay – i.e. you’re not suck in an office for 40+ hours a week and you can afford to go to Hawaii for two weeks. Or that you’re loaded enough to be compelled to spend money at the tanning salon. When I was in school, kids that went somewhere “exotic” on holiday were expected to come back tanned – it was just normal. If you go on holiday somewhere nice and sunny, you come back with a tan! I’ve actually never been tanning. I have *very* sensitive skin so I would most likely end up in the burns unit of the nearest hospital – not a good look!

About a month ago, Time published another article about the psychology behind tanning. It argued that people who were addicted to tanning salons had anxiety issues, and tanning made them relax. I can kind of understand that, as I used to get my nails done on a regular basis and it was relaxing and calming, and I thoroughly enjoyed going. But, it also suggested tanning addicts may have mood disturbances – which may be taking it a bit too far..

But maybe it isn’t. Think about the celebrities. Drastic changes to their bodies could  be some kind of Freudian complex. They don’t think they’re pretty enough, skinny enough, busty enough, tanned enough, so they do it to the max, and end up orange and plastic.

British tabloid superstars, Katie Price and her husband Alex Reid are renowned for their orange skin. Reid, a cage fighter, supposedly uses a tanning drug that you inject, and instead of going for a vein, he injects it into his stomach so that it absorbs quicker. Poor bloke was probably smacked around the head too many times, as this is clearly a very dangerous practice. Melanotan is not regulated, and it’s unknown what the long term effects are. Is being orange really that important?

Well, Price and Reid are trying to get pregnant, and so far have been unsuccessful – maybe it’s the Melanotan… Just a thought..

Tags: Celebrity, Celebs, Melanotan, Orange, Tan, Tanning, Tanorexic, VickyC, VickyC.me

This entry was posted on Friday, May 14th, 2010 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.