Why is it frowned upon when

[moreish]

I think all vanity is silly and pointless.

says the person with no front teeth. jokes

[StayTuned]

Michael Jackson had a disease that turned him white, it was not his choice.

When will people stop listening to the tabloids?

I stand corrected. Even though its hard to believe that Vitiligo affected his whole body... a friend of mine has it too, and it barely covers 5% of her body.

[Howard Moon]

But when white people want to tan its normal?

Not if they look orange.

[TheyCallMeTarzan]

Small people want to tall, tall people want to be a bit smaller. Blonde people dye their hair brown and brunettes dye their hair blonde. The list goes on... People like to change their appearance, and if they can I don't mind. As long as they're pleased with themselves.

Now, I don't know any cases of black people bleaching their skin, but fake-tan white people look like shit. A little colour now and then is great, especially during winter where we would otherwise be really pale, but too much is too much. It's not even the same tone as a natural tan.

In summer time I like to get tanned. The more the better, but I take precautions like using sunscreen. Low factor, but sunscreen nonetheless.

[Deleted]

I stand corrected. Even though its hard to believe that Vitiligo affected his whole body... a friend of mine has it too, and it barely covers 5% of her body.

Well not every person is the same! when 1 person had cancer and it spreads rapidly, doesent mean it does for the other.
When you look up Michael Jackson's disease, you see people completely with diffrent skin colors. some have it little some have it a lot.
Just like people with lupus! some people's face completely deforms, some have nothing, and then there's people like Seal with obvious scars, but not that horrible

[Jurwi]

Excessive tanning is disgusting. I've never understood why beautiful girls ruin their looks with tanning. It just doesn't look good.

[-Zait-]

I think excessive tanning is bizarre. Skin bleaching also seems weird to me.

[fishface]

Skin bleaching is considered to be so damn offensive because of racial connotations. Pre civil rights movement, black people bleached their skin (amongst other things) to have a more Caucasian appearance. This was done because at the time the mainstream opinion was that white people were aesthetically superior in every way and that black people looked ugly, stupid, thuggish etc. I'm sure some will have thought it would mitigate discrimination.

The Black pride movement came about to counter this. On a national level it told the black masses that they should be proud of their race and heritage, that they were beautiful and should be treated with dignity. People get angry at skin bleaching because it calls back to a time when racial inequality was rife. When the representation of black people in media was so totally derogatory it caused a significant amount of them to be ashamed of the colour of their skin.

What it also does is show up the still prevalent inequality in media on a global level. Because of the massive influence the western media has, Caucasians are disproportionately represented and catered to. Hell, even some Black/Asians in media have quite Caucasian features such as Beyonce. When you're constantly told this is beautiful, this is what to aspire too, it's going to have an impact on your notions of beauty and in some cases people will strive to attain that, even if it takes skin bleach or surgery. Ultimately that's what people get angry about, that something has caused these people to think their only chance at being beautiful is to do something so drastic.

I don't think i am, a lot of people tan. not everyone and a big amount does not. but still the younger people teens are young adults do.---

---I read in an article that in many citiesin the US there are more tanning salons than Mcdonalds or Starbucks. i think that says something
Asside from that Wiki says in the us 3million people tan a year (wether thats accurate i dont know its wiki) but i wouldnt be surprised if it was

That's less than 1% of the US population who tan unnaturally.

[Jenks3]

The hypocrisy is there, but it's based on the fact that tanning is natural. Yes intentional tanning is not, but being darker from working out in the sun has been a part of human history since...ever really. Whereas skin bleaching is 99% not natural, some diseases/complications withheld. You can see why human beings would be more comfortable with something that is natural rather than unnatural.

[DeltrusDisc]

Excessive tanning is frowned upon.

Tanning from normal shit like the sun? That's how Black people came into existence, last I opened a history/science book.

[Deleted]

That's less than 1% of the US population who tan unnaturally.

Percentage wise it looks like nothing sure, but its still a lot of people

[Fahrenheit]

Because tanning is natural and bleaching one's skin isn't.

[Themius]

It's not just black people... it's asians (dark ones lighten, white ones tan, or try to remain as light as possible), indians, south east asians, people from the island, including those with indian decent. Pretty much every non-white race lightens.

I'm lightening now actually, though I am pretty sure it's more healthy than using those chemicals. My reason is that my face/neck has become darker than the rest of me so I can't wear shirts with lower necks without the difference being obvious.

I'm lightening to get back to my natural color, I am sure though that over the years sun damaged has had a hand to play.

Skin tanning is just unhealthy. No one should want to be darker via tan, if they want to be darker they should get a spray tan...

---------- Post added 2012-09-25 at 09:22 AM ----------

I stand corrected. Even though its hard to believe that Vitiligo affected his whole body... a friend of mine has it too, and it barely covers 5% of her body.

Vitiligo affects the whole body eventually. When you're a celebrity though it's easier to hide the spots until it's more advanced.

---------- Post added 2012-09-25 at 09:24 AM ----------

Because tanning is natural and bleaching one's skin isn't.

People have been bleaching for thousands of years using natural things, or toning. Gold, milk, lemon, other acids and the like.

Tanning in a tanning bed isn't natural, sitting out in the sun to tan isn't natural. When done purposefully since the sun is dangerous to us sitting out in it for hours isn't natural at all. Consider the fact we need to wear sun screen, otherwise we run the risk of being hurt by what gives us life.

[Howard Moon]

sitting out in the sun to tan isn't natural.

It isn't? You have to keep in mind that in the modern era most people spend most of their lives indoor. Those are not the conditions under which humans evolved. We used to be out there, hunting, gathering, etc. We are being subject to an unnaturally low amount of sunlight these days in my opinion. I agree tanning beds are unnatural, but tanning outside? Of course it's unhealthy if done carelessly, but that's just because our bodies aren't used to it anymore.

[Reeve]

Personally, I don't like tans either, so meh.