# Do You Find Tans Attractive **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241 "2011-05-26T02:36:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/61 "2011-05-27T11:21:24Z")
Nobody, but the combo of the red’n’white look of the first days on that regime and of the periodic turnabout has led to that nickname for the activity in Spain. The resulting look is sometimes referred to as “grilled”. ---
**Author:** ![BTEzra04](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BTEzra04](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BTEzra04)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/62 "2011-05-27T13:35:29Z")
Pale is good. I might be biased though, given that I am myself. I can’t tan anyway, just burn. I think the extremes that others have mentioned–like overly bronzed/orange people–are…ick. It probably doesn’t help that I work with tourists near the waterfront either. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/63 "2011-05-27T19:16:06Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I’ve known relatively light-skinned black people who can indeed sunburn, especially on parts of the body that do not normally get much sun, like a new hair part. Certainly these people do get darker if they spend more time in the sun. However, I don’t believe that they intentionally tanned themselves, if that’s what you’re asking. I had a close friend in high school who is a very light-skinned black girl (high yellow, if you will) who purposely tanned because she felt her skin looked better a little browner. My ex, also a very light skinned black person, would get sun burn if he didn’t wear sunblock. I have dark brown skin, so it’s never occured to me to purposely darken, but if I am in the sun for a long time, my skin will get darker. Re: OP. I may be personally biased, but I always think color looks better than no color. Of course, the obvious exception is those orange tans which are silly. I would prefer to look at someone who is chalk-white to someone who looks like that Jersey Shore girl. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/64 "2011-05-27T19:21:49Z")
Tan or no tan, tan-lines look goofy to me (speaking as someone who winds up with tem by summer’s end, no less). ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/65 "2011-05-27T19:48:38Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Tan lines around the waist area can be very very hot, though. Can’t figure out any logical reason for this but same here, tan lines look great, very sexy. > [@AuntiePam](#): > > ETA: I’m freckled and have always been envious of the non-freckled. Some guys love freckles. I am one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/66 "2011-05-27T20:41:03Z")
Pale white skin looks anemic and unhealthy, sometimes sickly. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/67 "2011-05-27T22:14:13Z")
For all of you that say naturally fair-skinned or pale-skinned girls look better that way, are you _sure_? Reason I’m slightly dubious is because it just doesn’t jibe with my experience. I am extremely pale and couldn’t tan if I lay on the surface of the Sun. The only comments I’ve ever received actually praising my eggshell skin have come from ninety-year olds. The rest are and have been downright negative. By college I was sick and tired of the negativity over my skin and it became something of a sore subject with me, as you can tell. Yes, I do the airbrush tanning in the summer. It looks absolutely realistic (not fakey orange). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/68 "2011-05-27T22:15:50Z")
People actually give you grief about the natural color of your skin? What a world of assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/69 "2011-05-27T22:46:59Z")
Thanks, Acsenray. Can only figure that people don’t think and assume everyone has the same aesthetic goals and abilities. Anyway, that post came off more vitriolic than I meant. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/70 "2011-05-27T23:19:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > People actually give you grief about the natural color of your skin? What a world of assholes. Fortunately, this phenomenon is quite rare. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/71 "2011-05-27T23:27:03Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Fortunately, this phenomenon is quite rare. Heh, gotcha. The irony has crossed my mind many times. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/72 "2011-05-27T23:37:27Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Pale white skin looks anemic and unhealthy, sometimes sickly. :rolleyes: > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > That said, my natural skin tone is [similar to this guy’s](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2SSpcgp3SPk/S-LevrC-HRI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/LF5ERYapsyM/s1600/men%27s%2Bhealth.jpg&imgrefurl=http://article-on-health-articles.blogspot.com/2010/05/male-laser-hair-removal.html&usg=__ELgyhr4ibzYvHcsA3PYL9CHjgfs=&h=319&w=425&sz=29&hl=en&start=4&zoom=1&tbnid=yN8SJF97rbUpNM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=126&ei=vOjeTYiBL43egQeEn6TLCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmale%2Bskin%2Btones%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1320%26bih%3D836%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&biw=1320&bih=836), and it takes just a few minutes in the sun for me to become noticeably darker. I tan very deeply, very quickly. > > The problem is if I become very dark, i.e., a brown/bronze color, within a few days I begin to peel, and then I’m a splotchy red and brown, especially around my hairline and nose, which is not very attractive. My arms and legs don’t seem to peel, at least that I’ve noticed. That makes me feel a bit better - so it’s not just those of us with a skin tone [like this](http://jenjones.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/redhead2.jpg) (actually, that kiddo’s skin is probably a bit darker than mine, but my arms freckle) that peel? Of course, I turn a non-splotchy red first… ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/73 "2011-05-27T23:56:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > People actually give you grief about the natural color of your skin? What a world of assholes. As another vampire-pale person - yes, people give me shit about my skin color (or lack of it, rather). People who would _never_ in a million years find it appropriate to criticize the color of a Latina or Asian or African will come up to me and start in on “HOW can you walk around with your legs that white???” Um… _because that’s what color they are?_ Seriously, _I can NOT tan_. Even with what little color I can get over a summer I still glow in the dark. I can NOT get darker, sorry. I am what I am. So I stopped worrying about it. I wander about all summer with my pale skin (frequently slathered with sunblock, wearing broad-brimmed hats, etc.) and ignore the jerkwads and bigots. Pale white looks better than severely burned and/or peeling, so I do the best I can with what I have. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/74 "2011-05-28T00:00:29Z")
I don’t even notice unless someone has that weird dark orange tan with the paler lips and that’s just comical. My brother and his wife both sit outside for hours tanning and they’re in their mid-forties looking like worn leather. It is not at all attractive to me. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/75 "2011-05-28T01:17:23Z")
Fun fact: I turn green in the sun. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/76 "2011-05-28T02:16:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > People actually give you grief about the natural color of your skin? What a world of assholes. Another one of the naturally pale (my nickname through junior high and high school was Casper) harassed. I, however, love my pale skin, hate sunburns, don’t like the smell of fake tanner, can’t stand sunburns, and have overcome most complaints about the whiteness of my skin by changing the color from white to every other color you can imagine. Pale skin, especially when regularly covered in sunscreen, makes a wonderful canvass for tattoos. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/77 "2011-05-28T02:20:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Fun fact: I turn green in the sun. Really. Wow, that must make Star Trek cosplaying a snap for you.😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/78 "2011-05-28T02:32:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As another vampire-pale person - yes, people give me shit about my skin color (or lack of it, rather). People who would _never_ in a million years find it appropriate to criticize the color of a Latina or Asian or African will come up to me and start in on “HOW can you walk around with your legs that white???” Um… _because that’s what color they are?_. Yep, me too, though it’s a lot rarer that people will comment now than say, high school. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/79 "2011-05-28T16:06:02Z")
I like a light- to medium-brown skin tone. Doesn’t much matter to me how you get it. In my eyes, it’s more attractive and desirable than paler skin. Each to her own. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241/80 "2011-05-28T16:30:00Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > For all of you that say naturally fair-skinned or pale-skinned girls look better that way, are you _sure_? Reason I’m slightly dubious is because it just doesn’t jibe with my experience. I am extremely pale and couldn’t tan if I lay on the surface of the Sun. The only comments I’ve ever received actually praising my eggshell skin have come from ninety-year olds. The rest are and have been downright negative. By college I was sick and tired of the negativity over my skin and it became something of a sore subject with me, as you can tell. > > Yes, I do the airbrush tanning in the summer. It looks absolutely realistic (not fakey orange). I hadn’t particularly said anything about the super-pale, but a Snow White with good skin or this other look which I’ve sometimes heard called “English rose” (blonde with translucent skin and a natural blush) both look great. I also like freckles… I think I like any colors so long as they aren’t overwrought. There was a guy in my RenFaire group, in Miami, who was Minesottan on his Dad’s side, German on Mom’s. One day someone ribbed him about being glow-in-the-dark and he said “this is actually what I look like _tanned_! Look!” Gosh. The skin outside the cover of his T-shirt was the palest pink, but the parts under the shirt were so pale they looked bluish :eek: I think he’s still the palest person I’ve known, and that’s with a ton of redheads in my family. And yeah, between the color and his size, he was always the first pick for “viking”, “barbarian bodyguard” and similar roles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-tans-attractive/583241.md?page=5)