Love The Shade of Skin You Are In! By Caterina De Gaetano Pain is beauty, but being beautiful doesn’t always have to be painful. People have always gone to great lengths to change or enhance an aspect of their physical appearance in order to look good, even if the consequences were harmful. Recently, tanning one’s skin has become the new bad fad. Young men and women try to maintain a natural looking summer glow all year round through a variety of methods such as tanning beds, unprotected sun exposure, spray-ons and tanning creams. Some of these tanning mechanisms can come with a heavy price. Mom always told you to wear your sunscreen. She had a reason! Ultraviolet Radiation, or UV rays, is a harmful light ray emitted from both the sun and tanning lights, used in beds. Although you may think your glowing skin is attractive, your skin cells might not agree. The discoloration or tan which develops on skin actually results from the natural response to excessive light exposure. If you constantly bronze your skin this may result in different forms of skin cancer like Carcinoma or Melanoma. Tanning bed lovers are also at a higher risk of developing skin cancer than sun bathers. Results of skin cancer include pus-filled, irritating sores.
I don’t mind being ‘paler’ Music Therapy major, Page McIntyre confessed, “Personally, I like to be tan. I will spend hours in the sun without sunscreen and sometimes I go to tanning salons, even though it is expensive and causes skin cancer. I just think it makes me look better and clears up my skin.” Insecurity about walking around with fair skin seems to be a recurring factor among young women. Nicole Carolei, 20, full time waitress in Poughkeepsie, expressed similar feelings in regards to her own skin tone. “I like tanning. I hate being pale. If I could, I would tan all year round because being pale isn’t my favorite thing to be.” This dislike of pale skin has been influenced by the media. With the rise of reality shows like Jersey Shore, an emphasis is put on being tan and depicts lighter skinned
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Health & Beauty • February 2012
individuals as unattractive. Third-year student Katie Maus stated, “The media definitely encourages having a “healthy glow”. It’s the Jersey Shore guys’ motto: gym TAN laundry.” Several times throughout Jersey Shore, the characters complain about pale people, calling them ugly. If darker skin can be embraced, why can’t lighter skin be? Commenting on his own skin tone, first-year, Vincent Ferarra feels confident about his pale skin color, “I think tanning is a personal decision. I don’t mind being ‘paler’ according to other people. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m of European decent and it is part of my heritage.” There are healthy alternatives to tanning beds and unprotected sun exposure for those who still find it necessary to maintain a healthy glow. Although these items cause skin stains, random brownish spots, and an orange appearance on the skin, spray tans and Jergen’s tanning lotion are all safe alternatives to UV ray exposure. The bottom line is ladies and gentlemen, you should try to accept the color of the skin you were born with because no matter what shade of color it is, you are beautiful. Your skin color is a part of you and something you should learn to love, despite what the people around you say.