Go With Your Own Glow: The Dangers of Tanning for Girls
I recently attended Cosmo’s 2011 Safe Sun Awards and learned a disturbing fact: melanoma, the deadliest form of cancer, is also the second most common form of cancer for women between fifteen and thirty, a statistic we can attribute to the societal pressure teenage girls and young women face to look tan.Not only are we bombarded with images of celebrities who have developed a deep bronze due to unhealthy intakes of sun, we’re told that it’s normal or “a healthy glow.” As dermatologist Jennifer A. Stein pointed out at the Safe Sun Awards, what is described as a “healthy glow” is anything but.While it may seem like we’ve become more aware of the dangers of tanning in the past few years, the statistics show that such information is not affecting the masses. Melanoma cases in young women have increased fifty percent since the 1980s. Why are women and girls actively engaging in an activity that has been proved cancerous?We’re fed a bill of goods. Tanning salons are far from truthful about the impact of their service, as you can read in this Cosmo list of scary truths tanning salons deny.
As Cosmo’s editor-in-chief Kate White explained, many women grow up hearing that tanning is healthy, as long as they’re not getting visibly sun burnt, but this is far from the truth. Any tan is evidence of skin damage.
How did we come to value a look that represents damaged skin? Years ago, it was fashionable to look extremely pale, a trend which, believe it or not, originated from the same place as the desire to sport a tan. It used to be that a pale hue demonstrated wealth because it meant you weren’t working outside to earn your pay, but rather could lounge inside learning French and becoming a lady.Today, tans have the connotation of wealth, as they often suggest that the bronzed individual has the money to vacation at the beach.
So, question: if dyeing our skin with a dangerous blue dye represented wealth, would you do it? While it’s understandable to be swayed by trends, we need to learn to draw lines when it comes to safety.
I know, I know. You really do think you look better with a tan. But, how do we know this is true, since a hundred years ago girls thought the opposite?People from all walks of life are joining together to fight against skin cancer. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has sponsored a bill that is working to ensure that tanning salons accurately warn their customers about the real dangers of tanning. When I asked her about the bill, Congresswoman Maloney told me that she thinks “tanning is our generation’s cigarettes.” A year ago, a tan tax was also made law, which seeks to deter individuals from tanning by making it more expensive.At their Safe Sun Awards, Cosmo honored Everyday Italian star Giada De Laurentis and actress Laura Linney, who have both worked tirelessly to raise awareness about skin cancer. Cosmo also honored Cara Biggane who lost her sister Mollie to melanoma at twenty years old, and has, with her family, created a foundation in her honor. The Mollie Biggane Melanoma foundation even created an iPhone app that can help to identify a malignant mole.With the knowledge we have about the way the sun can harm our bodies, we should be able to put trends behind us, and, as Cosmo says, go with our own glows. As an extremely pale person myself (they sometimes call me Casper), I understand the pressure to attempt to fit into a tan society. But, just like many of the other constructs society puts upon us, I would encourage us to dare to be different, and in this case, dare to be safe.Fiona Lowenstein is a rising high school senior, weekly guest blogger and Girls Leadership Institute alumna. Read more of her work here.