Tags
beauty, Coppertone, dating, health, humor, Los Angeles, Morticia Adams, skin cancer, Snow White, Sun, sunbathing, Sunscreen, tan, Tanning, Tanning oil
It’s that season again, that infuriating time of year when days expand, clothing shrinks, and core life issues about values, health, and even death, become a daily consideration. Summer in Los Angeles. To tan, or not to tan? That is the seasonal question.
Graeme Weatherston / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
When I first arrived in LA, it was winter, so the answer was easy. But as I worked at my job, my cousin worked on her color. She had a beautiful honey tone, made possible by long hours of poolside reading and religiously timed applications of cocoa butter. “The color of unemployment,” I called it, smug in my belief that the mythical Coppertone bronze was reserved for socialites and tourists. I could indulge my natural complexion with my vanity intact. Snow White found her prince, I told my pale reflection, and so would I.
Then summer arrived, and the city showed its true colors: brown, beige, copper, and gold, with rosy cheeks and sun-kissed shoulders. While I still showed mine: lily white. But now the face in the mirror looked more like Morticia Adams than a fairy tale princess. Concerned friends asked about my health. I refused invitations to pool parties. Even my brother suggested I get some color. Actually, what he said was, “Oh, Deb, those are some white legs!”
I had discovered Sun Guilt. On one hand, beer and soda commercials promised me love, laughter – and less calories, too – if I’d don my bikini and dash to the beach. On the other hand, health experts warned me to stay in the shade. Of course I believed the experts. Trouble is, I bought the commercials. Let’s face it – it takes more than melanin to get a tan these days; it takes strength of character. Not to mention a collection of skills that I never acquired in college.
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Math, for instance. I currently own sunscreen and tanning oil in variables of 30, 15, 8, 6, 4, and baste. If X is my estimated time in the sun, and Y is how fast I burn – but my face is already browning, and my bikini line hasn’t seen light since last year – what power sunscreen do I use to prevent skin cancer yet ensure that I will be a bronze beauty by Saturday night?
Then there is Abstract Problem Solving: 1) How will I explain to my children that Mommy has wrinkles from trying to impress a blonde dude on a surf board? 2) How will I ever have children if I don’t impress someone?
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
And finally, we have Deductive Reasoning. Fact: I know I am more attractive with a tan. Fact: Suntans are a serious health risk. Therefore, does danger make me devastating? Maybe I should take up hang-gliding!
My honey-colored cousin no longer has this problem. Today she’s pale and sun-shy, with Number 50 at the beach and a husband at home.
As for me, I’m still weighing my values against my vanity. And if this year is anything like last year, it will be October before I decide. Then I can forget about the whole mess…until next summer.
Deborah Edler Brown 
Being the famous cousin with the gorgeous tan I can say I stopped doing it shortly after. Today @ my undisclosed age I look at least 10 years younger because I stopped going in the sun. I actually think white pale skin is beautiful. Snow White is not the only princess without a tan!
I recently blogged about tanning and skin cancer! Tans are over-rated. Tan is basically your skin saying: “Holy crap I am dying.” I am not a scientist but I think I am correct in what I say.
LOL. Skin speaks true! And yes, tans are overrated. But so are lots of things that we want or think we need to feel attractive, powerful, etc. Thus the dilemma.
Recently, I discovered that I have a Vitamin D deficiency as a growing number of Americans do these days. For years, I have worn very wide brim hats in the sun and slathered my skin (I’m half African American) with sun block. Even my face moisterizer includes a bit of SBF 40. As it turns out, sun is not only good for us, but NECESSARY, especially if you have skin that is olive or darker.
Vitamin D does occur naturally in some foods (fish, fish liver oils, egg yolks, fortified dairy and some grain products). So if you are shirking the sun, its important to make sure you have lots of these in your diet. Please note that the traditional vitamin D deficiency associated with rickets/bone tissue disease is not the only health problem that limited sun exposure produces. And ladies, D deficiencies can cause osteoperosis. Too little D can also lead to:
– Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
– Cognitive impairment in older adults
– Severe asthma in children
– Cancer
– Plentifuly vitamin D can also prevent and treat type1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosis.
(http://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamin-d-deficiency)
As many as 36 percent of Americans are vitamin D deficient. Some studies show darker skinned Americans at 75%. Vitamin D deficiency is called a “hidden epidemic” for darker-skinned people who have more melanin in the skin. High levels of melanin reduce the body’s ability to make vitamin D from sunlight exposure. In African-Americans it is called eumelanin. (http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=162068).
The message I want to leave everyone with is this:
“Vitamin D is primarily produced by exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. In the second layer of the skin, previtamin D is activated and transformed into vitamin D when exposed to UV rays. It is estimated that 15 minutes of daily sun could provide adequate vitamin D, although research is still being conducted.” (http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=162068).
Everyone, please enjoy your 15 minutes of sun!
Monica, it’s true. There are actually a lot of people with Vitamin D deficiency. I’m another one. It’s worth having levels checked at your next physical, folks. Thanks for the valuable input!
I am “of a ceretain age” and having golden skin is seemingly of no consequence to me, but yet…when we go to the beach with the grandkids I still suffer the internal slings and arrows! You would think I’d be unassailable at my age, but “You’re sooooooooo white, grandma!” can still penetrate the years and bring on the young desire for a tan line.
I loved this piece, Deb!
Ruth
Thanks Ruth! Yes, the tugs of vanity seem to spring eternal. And I love that you worked “slings and arrows” into your comment!
As always, Deborah, beautifully written, engaging and entertaining! Good info from you and from all your commentors.
My buddy battled melanoma and My Mom has had many cancers removed. My buddy grew up playing outdoors in La Quinta and my mom kept a tan. I don’t like Doctors! I will let what ever happens in a short time outside and covered happen, but i will be wearing sunscreen and clothing most of the time….
Ooops- meant a short time outside un-covered….
Tan? Not tan? It doesn’t matter, because I still get to read Deb’s words and have a smile on my face.
You are an absolute dear. 🙂
When I was kid growing up in Ohio, I couldn’t get enough of the sun. When I first moved to L.A., every day felt like a vacation. Now, after nearly a decade on the West Coast, I rarely ever get the urge to walk for hours on the beach. I’m not a sun merchant. I burn like paper. In fact, if I didn’t have to walk or wait for buses, I think I’d be inside even more. Tans do not make people attractive. A pleasant smile, good conversation, and a great sense of humor still go a long way. So…tan or not to tan? I say pass on the sun tan. Moon tans will keep you looking young and healthy far, far longer.
Eric, I love the idea of moon tans, and the poem you posted last night. As you can tell, I’m not a “sun merchant” either (great term), but vanity always tugs this time of year. Thanks for weighing in!
I understand your dilemma even if I don’t really have it. Tanning has never been an issue for this chocolate woman. The sun is good. It feels wonderful and of course the vitamen D issue is no joke. However, more and more people, even people of color, are being diagnosed with skin cancer. Our benevolent sun is not so benevolent. I do my best to stay out of it. My moisturizer is SPF 30 and I slather my honey complected kids with SPF 50. I know too many people who’re running around with a bandaid caused by a melanoma removal — the snow white variety as well as my chocolate and cafe au lait bretheren.
I say this! Draw attention away from the legs by wearing a wonderful broad beautiful sun hat! Hats are so mysterious! They both protect and attract!
Your new pal, and “cousin in law”
Josette
aka
Opie’s Mom
Josette! What a wonderful contribution to the discussion! And wonderful suggestion. I’ve been thinking about sun hat shopping myself. big hugs! and happy to get to know this end of the family. 🙂
I had a good chuckle when I read this post. When you think about tanning watch a couple of episodes of the Bonanza series. Pay attention to the then young Linda Evans. Afterwards watch a couple of episodes of Dynasty. See what Linda Evans looks like two plus decades later.
Ha! That sounds like great aversion therapy! I’ll keep it in mind when I start daydreaming in bronze. 🙂
Funny! I asked for a “random post” and this is what I got. So, now that it’s next summer, are your shoulders still “lily white”? I wear SPF 30 all year round, but my half-South Asian heritage has given me a complexion that already looks tan.
What fun! I am, indeed, still “lily white,” although even SPF 30 ends up giving some color if you spend time in the sun, which I’ve been doing (for play, not for tanning). Thanks so much for saying hello.