# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mindplay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Mindplay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindplay)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/21 "2004-06-08T20:59:38Z")
UV light triggers a reaction in the body that allows it to grow bone. An attraction to a tan could be evolution. ---
**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, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/22 "2004-06-08T21:33:29Z")
> [@Mindplay](#): > > UV light triggers a reaction in the body that allows it to grow bone. > > An attraction to a tan could be evolution. UV light cause the body to produce vitamin D, which is vital in calcium(and thus bone growth) absorbtion. But lighter skin is MORE effective than darker skin at producing vitamin D - that is why you see lighter skinned people at higher latitudes. Conversly, UV light destroys folic acid in the body, making dark skin an assest in sunnier climes. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/23 "2004-06-09T04:50:39Z")
If you see tans as attractive, it’s because you were trained to that perception. There’s a huge industry built around making people dislike their natural skin color. There is big money in tanning products, tanning beds, sunburn remedies, and best of all, travel to sunny places. We’ve been played for suckers! We waste lots of time and money to reach an artificial goal of darker skin. Then when we’re older, we have to spend even more to have pre-cancerous lesions removed from our leathery, wrinkled skin. It’s some of the most senseless, self-destructive behavior we humans do. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/24 "2004-06-09T05:02:12Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > If you see tans as attractive, it’s because you were trained to that perception. There’s a huge industry built around making people dislike their natural skin color. There is big money in tanning products, tanning beds, sunburn remedies, and best of all, travel to sunny places. We’ve been played for suckers! We waste lots of time and money to reach an artificial goal of darker skin. Then when we’re older, we have to spend even more to have pre-cancerous lesions removed from our leathery, wrinkled skin. It’s some of the most senseless, self-destructive behavior we humans do. So it’s a marketing ploy? I’ll buy that it’s a taught behaviour, but tanning is a relatively recent industry. Weren’t “bathing beauties” a popular topic well before tanning was a marketable product? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/25 "2004-06-09T06:03:03Z")
> [@Phase42](#): > > I prefer a shade of skin that is appropriate to the race of the person. "Your complexion is inappropriate for your race! :mad: " ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/26 "2004-06-09T07:10:52Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > "Your complexion is inappropriate for your race! :mad: " Is this becoming a race issue? That’s not what was intended. If I need to clarify, I’m talking about caucasian tanning. In American culture, sorry if I offended. There seems to be a market/desire for tanned skin in today’s American modeling structure. ---
**Author:** ![LuckySevens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@LuckySevens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuckySevens)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/27 "2004-06-09T12:22:16Z")
Tanning also makes you look more detailed in the muscles. I notice a big difference coming off winter when I start to get a tan again; I look a lot more defined in the face and body, which is apparantly attractive. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/28 "2004-06-09T12:25:26Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > 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. Knowing? More like dreaming, while tapping away at their computers, in darkened rooms with mushrooms growing in the corners. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/29 "2004-06-09T13:33:57Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > If you see tans as attractive, it’s because you were trained to that perception. There’s a huge industry built around making people dislike their natural skin color. There is big money in tanning products, tanning beds, sunburn remedies, and best of all, travel to sunny places. We’ve been played for suckers! We waste lots of time and money to reach an artificial goal of darker skin. Then when we’re older, we have to spend even more to have pre-cancerous lesions removed from our leathery, wrinkled skin. It’s some of the most senseless, self-destructive behavior we humans do. What about tig ole bitties? Is that a marketing ploy too? Ever heard of sexual selection? ---
**Author:** ![EnginNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@EnginNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnginNerd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/30 "2004-06-09T13:40:38Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > 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. To see the other extreme in Japan, however, do a Google search for ‘ganguro’… I saw a bunch of these women over there, and quite frankly, they frightened me! ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/31 "2004-06-09T14:36:12Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > Is this becoming a race issue? That’s not what was intended. If I need to clarify, I’m talking about caucasian tanning. In American culture, sorry if I offended. There seems to be a market/desire for tanned skin in today’s American modeling structure. No, I just thought that was funny the way he worded that. It was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/32 "2004-06-09T16:50:06Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > No, I just thought that was funny the way he worded that. It was a joke. I totally knew that. 😉 I’m sure tans will be out of style when everyone starts getting horrible strains of skin cancer. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/33 "2004-06-09T17:32:02Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > So it’s a marketing ploy? I’ll buy that it’s a taught behaviour, but tanning is a relatively recent industry. Weren’t “bathing beauties” a popular topic well before tanning was a marketable product? I’m not sure what period of time you’re referring to, but if you look at illustrations of bathing beauties from the early 20th century, with their neck-to-knees bathing suits, those cuties are quite pale. There was no concept of tanned skin as an ideal of beauty. You’d be hard pressed to find any illustrations from that time that show any broiled beauties. When I was a wee lad in the early 1950’s, my family went to Hollywood Beach, Florida. I saw big billboards with the little dog pulling down the little Coppertone girl’s swimsuit. “Don’t be a paleface! Use Coppertone!” By then, the tanning industry was getting revved up, promoting a concept of beauty that had not existed before. * * * **Eleusis** asked: What about tig ole bitties? Is that a marketing ploy too? Ever heard of sexual selection? * * * Nice breasts have been a desirable concept for a long, long time, unlike tanning. Ancient Greek statuary is evidence of that. Lots of money has been made on breastitude, of course, but it has always been there. As for sexual selection, tanned skin never entered into it until advertising talked us into it. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/34 "2004-06-09T18:15:25Z")
Ah, the ironies of life. My mom (born in Taiwan, which sits on the very appropriately named Tropic of Cancer) has a naturally olive complexion that any American would kill for, but she always worries about being “too dark”. Meanwhile, my brother is losing the melanin in his skin around his elbows and knees, making his joints look unnaturally pale (the same ailment that Michael Jackson suffered from, IIRC, and part of the reason that he had plastic surgery). He always wears long shorts and shirts so that he doesn’t have to answer questions like “Oh my God! What happened to your knees?” Meanwhile, I’m starting to lose the tan I got in college from biking to and fro everywhere, and now I have a semi-sickly yellow tint to my skin. Maybe I should go absorb some more vitamins…nah. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/35 "2004-06-09T18:32:41Z")
It’s been my general understanding that ladies who are showing off a tan are pretty much by definition showing off a lot of _skin_, which is almost always good… Also, when a group of fish-belly-white Minnesotans go walkin’ down the street wearing shorts and crop-top shirts in the bright sunlight, it can be kind of blinding. Still lots of skin, but if I have to shut my eyes to cut out the glare, it’s not so much fun. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222/36 "2004-06-09T23:52:30Z")
Ovid, in _The Art of Love_ (ca. 1 B.C.), advises men not to be too fussy in their appearance, listing “a body tanned from exercise” as a naturally attractive attribute in a man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-tans-attractive/249222.md?page=1)