Tan = Attractive?

[chrismac]

As an adjunct to today's body facism so prevalent in our society, especially among gay men, this article on the harmful effects of tanning was especially sobering:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/05/17/tanning.bed.laws/index.html

 

As someone who does not tan easily at all, I am especially suceptible to harmful side-effects of tanning. A dark tan, beyond the skin's normal coloration, is essentially an indication that the skin has been damaged. So why is it so popular, and considered "healthy", when most of us have been educated that it is not? It's like equating smoking with "cool" and "masculine" - as in the Marlboro Man ads of yesteryear.

 

I admit to being caught up in the craze, living as I do in Southern California where in the gay community, if you don't have a tan, you're pretty much invisible, or considered "deathly pale". I joined a tanning salon at an age where I should know better - and do. Now I use sunless tanning lotion - which has improved greatly to not give one that orange "Oompah Loompah" look. But I still see people in droves baking themselves at the park or beach in a never-ending quest for the coveted golden tan.

 

Why do we swallow all the marketing messages about what is supposed to be beautiful? How shallow are we?

[Guest Merlin]

I like to see a light tan, but a dark tan is not more attractive--for me it is less attractive. I really like a tan line, although they are less common now than they once were. I am sure than a light tan is more healthy and much less damaging than a dark tan. I do not understand why people believe that a dark tan is more attractive.

[Guest showme43]

Indeed it is a deadly addiction. A co-worker of mine, a long time tan-aholic, recently died from recurrent skin cancer that metastasized.

It made me reconsider how much time I spend in the sun.

[guyinsf]

Tan did not always equal attraction in this culture. It used to be that pale skin was considered more attractive. Having pale skin meant that you were of a certain class of people who did not have to labor outside. Having a tan meant you were a laborer which meant you had less money which meant you were less appealing.

[mmk]

I do think that a person with a nice healthy color looks better than someone who is pale. I used to lay out in the sun all the time. In my eatrly 20's I used a combination of baby oil, crisco and iodine to tan to get as dark as I could. (I have dark hair and a dark complexion so getting a tan was very easy for me) As I neared 30, I still would lay out but not nearly as much as I use to.

 

Now that I am in my mid 30's, I do not lay out at all, I stopped about 2 to three years ago (and when I did stop I was only laying out aboutonce every other week for about an hour) I am fortunate to have genetic on my side where I am aging well and there are not any noticable traces on sun damage on my body yet, but those could still show up down the road. I will use a self tanner every now and then because I think a little bit of color does look good. The one thing that I miss about laying out or going to a tanning bed is that -for me anyway-it was very relaxing and almost therapuetic. It gave you time to think and just lay there in a vegetative/meditative state and think about nothing. But now when I am in the sun or out in nice weather, there is always a minimum of a 15spf on me. I never thought I would get to that point in my life but hey, I guess it is a sign of getting older.

[chrismac]

>Tan did not always equal attraction in this culture. It

>used to be that pale skin was considered more attractive.

>Having pale skin meant that you were of a certain class of

>people who did not have to labor outside. Having a tan

>meant you were a laborer which meant you had less money

>which meant you were less appealing.

 

Well then I guess we're just like the Bolsheviks: all the laborers are running the show.

 

I agree guy - seems Hollywood may have started the trend with those beach films starring Frankie and Annette, plus Coppertone got into the act around that time (remember the billboards with the little black dog pulling the girl's bottoms down to reveal the tan line?).

 

Here's my theory on the attractiveness of a tan: the ability to tan is yet another perceived genetic strength which allows the person to walk around confidently in the hot sun without fear of burning. For northern European types, among whom tanning seems to be the most important, someone who can tan easily is seen as more of a rarity, and thus attractive and sought after. They can bare themselves in public and people won't think; "God, that guy is soooo white, better cover him up before he becomes as red as a done lobster." Even if the guy has a great body. A tan symbolizes "fun in the sun" and outdoors - which we equate to health and an active lifestyle. We may believe that someone who is pale doesn't "get out much" and probably isn't the sporty type. Not athletic. Sits at home all the time.

 

And freckles - oh my god - the scourge of the caucasian race.

 

Fair-skinned red-heads and light blonds of the world unite!

[guyinsf]

If only I get could my numerous freckles to expand so they touched one another, I'd have a nice, dark tan.

[Guest lipstick]

I myself do not have an intentional tan; just what comes naturally from walking around in the sun during the summer time. I am pale, certainly, and when I am with an escort buddy, I do feel weird when comparing our bodies in front of the mirror; he has a very dark, deep tan, which is intentional from tanning salons. I have asked him about that, and we have discussed skin cancers, which are sometimes prompted when we are in bed together and if I happen to notice something unusual on his back or legs, areas that he can't easily see himself. He has said that he feels "naked" if he doesn't have a deep tan, so I think in his case, a tan does equate to beauty of some sort, and he seems to take the cancer risks on the same level as escorting does, and those associated risks of getting STD's, etc. It may have something to do with the fact that many years ago, he felt he did not look as good as he does now, with a worked out body, etc.

 

On the positive side, I have been with two other escorts who were a bit more paler, and they did not seem to have the concerns with being pale. In fact, one of them, who does modelling professionally, just said that he prefers bronzers rather than tanning salons or being out in the sun. So with some folks who insist on being darkly tanned, I just hope their friends and/or clients put out the "reminder" when it is necessary to do so, 'cause there doesn't appear to be any way to talk some guys out of it.

 

Thanks.

[chrismac]

>If only I get could my numerous freckles to expand so they

>touched one another, I'd have a nice, dark tan.

 

The coveted "Freckle Merge". I pursue it also. :-)

[chrismac]

I neglected to add:

 

When I get a lot of freckles in the summer, I think of myself as kind of an abstract painting; a bit of a mess up close, but view me from afar and all the little brown spots look more like an overall picture of a tan.

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>I neglected to add:

>

>When I get a lot of freckles in the summer, I think of

>myself as kind of an abstract painting; a bit of a mess up

>close, but view me from afar and all the little brown spots

>look more like an overall picture of a tan.

 

When I get a lot of freckles, I think of myself as Doris Day.

 

Thunderbuns

[chrismac]

>When I get a lot of freckles, I think of myself as Doris Day.

 

I AM the male Doris Day. All fresh and smiles

 

 

I'd go into escorting to tap the market for those seeking the fresh peaches and cream look if I weren't so afraid of STDs and scary people ;-)

[+ deej]

>And freckles - oh my god - the scourge of the caucasian

>race.

>

>Fair-skinned red-heads and light blonds of the world unite!

 

<Chuckle!>

 

I have brown hair, but have a lot of ancestors with red hair. I don't even get the benefits of freckles. My beard had a little red in it (now gray).

 

I can spend a day in the sun and turn beet red. The next morning I'm fish-belly white again. People see me after a day in the sun and immediately think I must be in huge pain, but I'm not. I'm just red. Been that way all my life.

 

My Dad, on the other hand, had a little more of the redhead gene I think. He was prone to freckles. His left arm was covered with white spots (burn scars) just from resting his arm out the car window when driving. He's the only person I've ever seen (except me) who would go out on the lake fishing in 90 degree heat wearing a long-sleeve turtleneck and a big floppy hat and still come back beet red.

 

(OK, the red nose was from the beer, but you get the idea :+ )

 

I go to the beach with my pal Luis, a Puerto Rican. He's naturally a bit browner and just a few minutes of sun bronzes him right up. I just get red. But I never complain when he volunteers to rub lotion on me. :9

[DaninWA]

I don't tan at all. Finally, I tried one of the new self-tanners. Within a half hour, a very nice tan color appeared. About an hour later, my hands and arms started blistering. It was an allergic reaction that didn't appear when I did the 24 hour test.

 

I don't like having such pale, freckled skin, but I'm not going to try anymore self-tanners. How do the bronzers look? How long do they last? Do they have different chemicals than the self-tanners? Also, is there one that any of you would recommend?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

Dan

[Rick Munroe]

>(remember the

>billboards with the little black dog pulling the girl's

>bottoms down to reveal the tan line?)

 

Yes, I'm going to recreate that shot for my new pics, but instead of a dog, I'm gonna use a couple of guys with big, hard, lubed & rubbered-up dicks.

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Been There

 

>>(remember the

>>billboards with the little black dog pulling the girl's

>>bottoms down to reveal the tan line?)

>

>Yes, I'm going to recreate that shot for my new pics, but

>instead of a dog, I'm gonna use a couple of guys with big,

>hard, lubed & rubbered-up dicks.

 

We did that as part of an art project in San Francisco in 1992, slide shows, live models, oversized images. Here is an outtake: http://members.aol.com/francoonduty/Images/butt.jpg Yes, that would be my version of a well-visited and infamous New York monument, but I do not want to tease the public with what is, after all, inaccessible at any price.

 

I was born on the water, in the Sea of Biscay, grew up in Sitges and Corsica, spent summers in Baja, the gulf coast, the Pacific and Atlantic. Even with just six days to spend in San Francisco recently, I spent one afternoon with a client on the beach below the Golden Gate bridge. It is just very much a part of me, to live near water, and to spend time laying out. As MMK states above, I would greatly miss both the sun and the relaxation, the time to collect my thoughts and to simply be. I am certain this is what drives most humans, like Lemmings, to the beach once there is even the hint of warmth in the air.

 

Skin cancer should be a concern, even for me. My best friend and a fellow artist with whom I worked in the 90s in San Francisco, worked in construction as his "real" job and therefore suffered skin cancer on his bald spot by age 26. Fortunately, it was treatable and responded well. His heritage is Northern European and I do agree that for light skinned people, a small amount of sun suffices.

 

The Twinks, who have to do it for adult films, swear by two self-tanners: Banana Boat and Hawaiin Tropic. Twink Ho Number Three, who intends to be the only man over 50 without wrinkles and plastic surgery, looks as dark as I do and does not step out in the sun without sunglasses, a hat, and long sleve shirts. I think he would wear gloves if he could get away with it....

 

 

I will let you into my dreams if I can be in yours.

 

http://www.gaydar.co.uk/francodisantis

[Samai139]

History Lesson??

 

Unless I have been misinformed, the "tanned=attractive,sexy, etc." began with Coco Chanel(sp?) in the 1920's. The story goes that she came back from a cruise on the Mediterranean with a deep dark tan--all over, and it became the rage among "with it" Parisans.

 

I admit that I love being tan and work at it--use sun tan lotion with an spf of 4--I know that doesn't offer much protection, but I do not burn, even without the lotion, so there is some protection.

I feel more attractive and healthy when tan and although aware of the aging effects and the risk of skin cancer, I think of the generations--hundreds of them, really---of farmers who didn't deliberatly expose themselves to sunlight, but worked in it out of necessity. I suspect modern man's overexposure to sunlight, real and articial, PLUS a myriad of other environmentl variables have upped the skin cancer rate, rather than just the "moderate" tanning that comes more or less naturally.

 

If I were twenty or thirty years younger, I might think about posting a photo of my present tan line, but I don't think most of your guys would want to see it )

[Guest]

Although tans themselves do not represent anything healthful (except an adequate Vitamin D supply) they do imply someone who's outdoors and doing healthful activities during the Spring and Summer months. Of course, a guy with a tan may be a couch potato who just spends a little time every two days in the tanning booth. Nevertheless, when I think about a guy with a lifestyle I find "sexy" (surfer, swimmer, bicyclist, rock climber, or whatever), I don't think of a pale-looking guy.

[Guest Charon]

Guess I'm the odd man out. I think pale is sexy. Tan is ok, but does nothing for me.

[foxy]

What I think is really sexy is two hot guys on a beach rubbing suntan lotion all over each other. Who cares about the tan? Bring on the SPF 30!