Tanning
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tanning was considered boorish and unsightly. Women took great pains to protect their skin from the sun, porcelain colored skin was envied and white face powder was a necessity. However, as train lines made it easier to visit the coast, vacations became fashionable, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, bathing suits had become popular which led to the inevitable tan.
In the 1920s, Gabrielle Chanel (Coco) who was famous for her "masion de couture" and beautifully tailored suits for women, returned from a vacation to the French Riviera with a tan. Fashion headlines around the world carried the story and by the following summer tans were a symbol of leisurely days, a carefree lifestyle and social status. They have been marketed as fashionable ever since.
However, in the late 1960's scientists began to warn of their growing concern that skin cancer was a direct result of sun exposure - tanning. By the 1970s, in Australia, the beach capital of the world, there was an epidemic of skin cancer. The government in that country began a national campaign to fight this epidemic and to change the perception of the "beautiful tan". It became well known that the beautiful tan that lasted for a few days, created a lifetime of damaged skin leading to premature aging and skin cancers.
Warnings did not reach the general population in this country for many more years. The problem of skin cancer was considered uniquely Australian. After all, that country is closer to the equator and has a thinning ozone. However, in the U.S. we did become concerned about burning and worried that maybe our children were getting too much sun.
In the 1980's tans were still considered highly fashionable, but more parents were using sunscreens on children to keep them from burning. There was still little understanding by the public that exposure to the ultraviolet radiation at any age can be harmful. Further, sun lotions and sun screens were used incorrectly, causing scientists to declare
in the 1990s that their misuse may
have added to the problem. Skin cancer began showing up in younger ages, and the number of diagnosed cases in this country is now an unprecedented level.
Perhaps, like in Australia, the government in the U.S. will begin an education campaign to change the perception that tans are beautiful. Tans are nothing more than a symptom of damaged skin - an indication that premature aging or skin cancer is likely.
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