# Why do we tan **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630 "2017-07-06T17:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/1 "2017-07-06T17:57:50Z")
Around the turn of the twentieth century tanning started being a thing that people did. Before then lighter skin was seen as the ideal and still is in some parts of the world like east Asia. Many think it has to do with social classes but I believe it has to do with a far simpler reason, namely Hollywood. Pale white skin is harder to photograph, especially with early cameras and film as it washes out. So a tan actress shows up far better in movies. Early movie goers saw tanned actresses and since movie stars are often considered the ideal the fashions changed to having tanned skin. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/2 "2017-07-06T18:45:49Z")
Or, in the 20th century, increases in material wealth and laws defining “overtime” hours, coupled with the spread of private automobiles and interstate highways to drive them on meant that many more people had access to leisure time on beaches. Probably played some role in it. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/3 "2017-07-06T18:50:07Z")
My Vietnamese friends mother says only peasants tan, and that’s because they work in the fields. I’m not sure she’s heard of Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/4 "2017-07-06T19:00:36Z")
I’ve heard it was a case of: Before the industrial revolution, lower class people worked outdoors and got tan and weathered while upper class people stayed indoors A good bit after the industrial revolution, lower class people worked in factories and stayed pale while upper class people had the leisure to lay about on beaches and yachts. I don’t think there are any cites available to support this, though. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/5 "2017-07-06T21:11:48Z")
eeeh… You guys realize that this isn’t only ‘white’ people, right? Right? I mean Africans, Hindus, Vietnamese, Japanese - they all get darker when exposed to the sun, if they’ve been indoors all winter; as many have if they don’t reside in their native climates. This whole thread is just _this_ close to asking a black guy why he goes to the beach to catch some rays. _Dear white people…_ ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/6 "2017-07-06T21:13:37Z")
^^ When you don’t read a thread and it was only 4 posts long ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/7 "2017-07-06T21:19:18Z")
Why does Charlie Tan? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/8 "2017-07-06T23:56:10Z")
Because Cancer is a real Hoot! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/9 "2017-07-07T00:20:27Z")
Which era of Hollywood is the OP talking about? When I think of “early” movies, I think of actresses like [Theda Bara](https://theyearofhalloween.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/bara-theda_01.jpg) [Mary Pickford](http://www.ambrica.com/ambrica/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/marypickford01.jpg) [Clara Bow](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zq8Kr7SREys/maxresdefault.jpg) And [Dorothy and Lillian Gish](http://2paragraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Gish-dorothy-lillian-LOC.jpg). All of them were pretty pale. Even rough and tumble heroes like [Tom Mix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4CsG36TT0I) were pasty. And notice that[Charlie Chaplin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sUwwsQOM6g) is the whitest person in this entire clip. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/10 "2017-07-07T00:37:51Z")
Tans were once considered a sign of heavy labor so wealthy people avoided it. The industrial revolution led to an elevated working class who could take vacations. Vacations were taken at parks, beaches and amusement parks. Mass transportation made it possible for people to get to these locations. Vacations became the status symbol of the working class and tans were the proof of the vacation. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/11 "2017-07-07T05:09:53Z")
Blame Coco Chanel. In 1923, she went on a vacation to the Riviera and got a sunburn. After that, all the other socialites had to get burned too. The rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/12 "2017-07-07T05:34:20Z")
Some studies have also suggested tanning is addictive as it causes a release of endorphins. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/13 "2017-07-07T10:54:28Z")
Tanned skin looks good. Evens out blotchy complexions and adds color, much like makeup does. I look 10 times better with a nice dark tan, and I’m naturally in the middle of the color spectrum already. Hollywood and socialites may have made tanning popular during a certain time period, but they don’t explain it’s staying power. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/14 "2017-07-07T11:39:16Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’ve heard it was a case of: > > Before the industrial revolution, lower class people worked outdoors and got tan and weathered while upper class people stayed indoors > > A good bit after the industrial revolution, lower class people worked in factories and stayed pale while upper class people had the leisure to lay about on beaches and yachts. > > I don’t think there are any cites available to support this, though. Yeah, something like this. It’s really just a social fad, and it fluctuates all over the world, and over time. Like clothing fads, it’s all a matter of what people associate with what, when it comes to appearance-related concerns. A big element has always been whatever signals wealth to other people. The “scientific” explanations are almost always invented after the fad takes hold, for people who are embarrassed about following fads, and want a cover story. As for Hollywood, it has always really been mostly a mirror, not a source of social behaviors. When being pale was hot, they showed pale actresses. When being tan was the thing, they switched. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/15 "2017-07-07T11:43:04Z")
I heard it’s the contrast between tanned skin and white teeth. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/16 "2017-07-07T12:37:59Z")
Before the advent of freeways and parks it was very difficult for an ordinary person to get to a beach. The rich folk who owned seaside property denied public access. In the first third of the 20th century men like Robert Moses changed this by creating parks and parkways to access them. Beachgoing became a way for we plebes to relax and chill. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/17 "2017-07-07T17:08:59Z")
As a mid-toned white guy, I have never cared much for tans on people and I never understood why they are popular. However, I recognize that is my individual preference. I like pale skinned brunettes. I think it must be the stark skin/hair contrast. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/18 "2017-07-09T15:48:40Z")
I spend time in the sun in summer because after a winter of hibernation, it feels GREAT to have the sun beating down on my skin. If I can sail or kayak, great. If I can only hang by the pool and read, great. It’s like a cat sleeping in a patch of sun. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/19 "2017-07-09T17:16:07Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Tanned skin looks good. Evens out blotchy complexions and adds color and does wonders for acne. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-tan/790630/20 "2017-07-09T19:31:24Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > A good bit after the industrial revolution, lower class people worked in factories and stayed pale while upper class people had the leisure to lay about on beaches and yachts. Actually the people who work long hours in indoor factories in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are relatively dark-skinned compared to those who are from higher socioeconomic status.