# Why are tans attractive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222 "2004-06-08T02:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/1 "2004-06-08T02:49:18Z")
Isn’t a tan a sign of damaged skin? AFAIK it’s the melanin in the skin cell relocating over the nucleaus in order to prevent further damage. I sure like the appearance of a tanned girl, but every once in a while I realize that her skin is technically damaged. What gives? ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/2 "2004-06-08T02:57:19Z")
I’ve always kinda assumed it has a connection to the perception of health. Tan=outdoors=exercize=healthy sorta equation. Not sure this really has a factual answer, though. ---
**Author:** ![JimMacMillan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7bcc69/32.png) [@JimMacMillan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimMacMillan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/3 "2004-06-08T02:58:25Z")
I agree! A tan is the bodies way of trying to protect itself from further damage I have always questioned the irony in the so called healthy looking tanned skin. I have a couple of friends who are tan warriors. I can tell you that next to them I look pretty young. Jim ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/4 "2004-06-08T03:04:27Z")
Isn’t it just fashion? In many peoples opinion tans are not attractive (not talking just Goths). A tan is seen as uncomely in SEasian societies. IMO tans are not that attractive. Similar thing to body mass. Big, busty, ample, curvaceous women used to be seen as attractive. Things have changed lately. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/5 "2004-06-08T03:07:45Z")
A tan wasn’t popular until movie days, when young stars travelled and laid out on beaches. Before this time, a tan was seen as a _bad thing_. It meant you had to work outside, and thus were of lower caste. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/6 "2004-06-08T03:10:50Z")
I think a very light natural tan is attractive (though not being tanned is perfectly fine too). What I don’t enjoy seeing are people who look like walking toast. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/7 "2004-06-08T03:13:05Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > Similar thing to body mass. Big, busty, ample, curvaceous women used to be seen as attractive. Things have changed lately. This actually might be somewhat relevant. Tans make you look thinner and leaner. Body builders all use fake tans because it makes the curves of their muscles stand out. If you look at most “before and after” weight loss ads, one noticiable difference in the “after” photo is always a tan. When the fashionable female figure was more zaftig and soft, pale skin was more appropriate. Now that everyone wants more of a “hard body” look, tans are important. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/8 "2004-06-08T03:23:05Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Before this time, a tan was seen as a _bad thing_. It meant you had to work outside, and thus were of lower caste. And tans are _still_ considered un-attractive in many parts of the world. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/9 "2004-06-08T03:32:57Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > And tans are _still_ considered un-attractive in many parts of the world. Very correct. Many women in Asian or Indian (as in India, not Native American) societies spend a considerable amount of money of “skin-whitening” or “lightening” concoctions. There was an article about a year or so ago that detailed just how big a business this type of thing had become in Japan. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/10 "2004-06-08T03:33:13Z")
I like the light tan ‘healthy glow’ that a few hours (spread over a few weeks) gives me. I don’t really “tan” like other people, but I get lots and lots of freckles, that give the illusion of a tan. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/11 "2004-06-08T03:39:50Z")
[This website](http://fashion-era.com/), while not exactly the most scholarly, has this to say… > [@](#): > > In the Edwardian era only working people who had no choice but to work in the open air, displayed a tanned brown skin. A white complexion was associated with gentility and leisure until Coco Chanel popularized tanning. Then in the 1920s the rich sought to gain a tan to show they could afford the leisure time to holiday in exotic climates. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/12 "2004-06-08T03:53:36Z")
A tan also hides blemishes, given the skin a more even look. Sunlight is believed to help acne, but whether it has any more effect than to make pimples less noticeable is unclear. And in fair-skinned people I suspect that any benefit would, ahem, pale against the increased risk of skin cancer. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/13 "2004-06-08T03:54:40Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Very correct. Many women in Asian or Indian (as in India, not Native American) societies spend a considerable amount of money of “skin-whitening” or “lightening” concoctions. There was an article about a year or so ago that detailed just how big a business this type of thing had become in Japan. Keep in mind, though, that the coloring Indian women are trying to achieve is something right around the color that Western white women are looking for at the pool or tanning salon… ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/14 "2004-06-08T14:27:56Z")
At the end of last summer, my Chinese friends said, of my Chinese daughter: “She so pretty, why you let her get so tan? She look like peasant!” ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/15 "2004-06-08T15:52:48Z")
> [@syncrolecyne](#): > > I think a very light natural tan is attractive … You should move to Brazil. Tans are normal, and considered sexy. Even better are the tan lines on Brazilian women. Mmmmmmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/16 "2004-06-08T16:17:53Z")
Tans? Yuk. Give me pale and interesting any day. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/17 "2004-06-08T16:33:27Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Tans? Yuk. Give me pale and interesting any day. I didn’t know that tan people were automatically uninteresting, or that pale people were automatically dazzling conversationalists that lead interesting lives. I guess you do learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/18 "2004-06-08T16:49:40Z")
Another person here that prefers pale skinned girls to tanned ones. It saddens me that so many otherwise attractive girls are destroying their skin by spending too much time in the sun or tanning booths. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/19 "2004-06-08T17:10:42Z")
I prefer a shade of skin that is appropriate to the race of the person. I really think Russian/Ukrainian/etc/North European women look best with pale skin. One “look” I absolutely cannot stand is the “California Beach Blonde” look that seems to be so popular among swimsuit models: bleached blond hair, blue eyes and a super-dark tan. Yuk. I think it looks ridiculous and unnatural. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/20 "2004-06-08T18:52:04Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > I didn’t know that tan people were automatically uninteresting, or that pale people were automatically dazzling conversationalists that lead interesting lives. I guess you do learn something new every day. You seem to have missed out on the geeky internet afficionado code, whereby, when presented with anything relating to beauty or sexuality, males must knowingly reply: “pah, give me a skinny/fat pale/mousy woman who’s interesting and smart, boy is that sexy!” This makes you both knowing of things sexual and different from the ordinary crowd at the same time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222.md?page=2)