We darken our skin so we can be bigoted against people with darker skin.

Huh?

Jealousy behind racism.

The Wadsworth Atheneum’s next First Thursday event is dealing with this very topic. We’ll be opening a new exhibition of photographs from The Black List, which explores the diverse experiences of being Black in America through a series of intimate interviews and portrait sessions with leading African American figures. We are doing a free screening of the film tomorrow!

Also as part of First Thursday we’ll have a temporary tattoo artists on hand to explore the transformative affects of body art as well as a screening of the film Skin by Anthony Fabian – based on a true story – the film profiles a woman born to white parents in South Africa who looks black due to a genetic abnormality.

Join us to keep this great dialogue going!

The event is on August 6 from 5-8 at the Wadsworth – 600 Main St., Hartford, CT.

Growing up in the 1970s, I spent my summers tanning recreationally, trying to cultivate the perfect deep color despite my pale Irish skin. Now, as an adult, I realize all the damage I did and try to avoid the sun. The challenge is that all those years of feeling like I was working hard as I laid out in the sun makes me CRAVE sitting in the sun. Despite the sunless tanners, I still love that feeling of laying in the warm sun and I still think I look better with a tan.

Michele, Cambridge, MA

Growing up in the midst of Great Thar Desert in North Western India, I along with all my friends grew up in the harsh sun, all the time, no sunscreen, no umbrella nothing, however never heard anyone getting Skin Cancer in generations.

Why is it then the few days in the relatively charming Sun of North America is suddenly so dangerous, is it the North American thin air or is it people who dont have pigment who fall prey to this Skin Cancer, could you please take this question, please…

Ah, the superficial concerns of superficial people! The reason why we alter our skin can be summed up in one word: Vanity. Our obsession with skin alteration is merely one symptom of a problem that lies deeper beneath our skin.

The true definition of a lazy summer is tanning the inside of one’s thighs…even if I had that kind of time to spend now, I can think of many healthier pursuits and loftier goals to pursue…

As a “goth” (since the 1980s), I have never tanned a day in my life. I’ve maintained my red-head pallor despite the rude comments I’ve gotten about it all my life. At 39, I still look in my mid-20s. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to age themselves. I guess I’ll have the last laugh!

I’m hearing a lot of references to “porcelain” and “alabaster” skin. Can Nina Jablonski or Jane Brody address in more detail the technologies “brown” Americans can use to protect from the sun, etc.?

What about Vitamin D? Aren’t our skins supposed to be Vitamin D factories? How do we cover up, but still get this essential vitamin?

Sunscreens cause coral reef bleaching. Your vanity and desire for your ideal color, whatever it is, destroys the environment.
http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2008/10966/abstract.html

As a person who had melanoma at the age 24-years-old, I will not be satisfied until people accept the natural color of their skin. I worry about the body-image of my two daughters, both of whom are very light skinned. I think fake tan products are silly and dangerous because it perpetuates the desire to be tan in otherwise pale people. Fake tanning products are not like make-up at all, in my opinion; more like fake cigarettes.

I’d like to know about the safety of the bottled tan. I used a product by Neutrogena that said I might experience “shortness of breath.” I didn’t experience that, but I felt nauseous. These products might serve as an alternative to sun tanning, but don’t they pose their own risks?

My skin does not sun tan. It burns, blisters, peels and freckles, instead.

I can remember being a pre-schooler, at the beach all day with my family. Mother slathered her own skin with suntan oil and came home deeply bronzed. I, unfortunately, developed huge blisters across my shoulders and upper back (the parts that were not covered by a one-piece swimsuit). It was agonizingly painful and the aforementioned, burned parts of my body bear leopard like “perma-freckles” to this day.

The lesson: A natural blue-eyed, blond should NOT roast in the sun.

I’ve always been very cautious, as a teen and an adult, about sun exposure. Consequently, my skin color is not very fashionable but it is healthy, supple and unwrinkled.
I like it better that way.

The SPF number on sunscreens seem to continually rise these days – in protecting my skin, should I splurge on SPF 70, or will 30 work just as well?

Everything in moderation. The Sun is NOT toxic! These experts would have us believe that we have to live our lives under an umbrella with a tube of sunscreen in hand. Let’s pause to remind ourselves that without the Sun, all life on Earth would cease to exist. It’s not so much the Sun that’s the problem, it’s the unhealthy lifestyle of modern society that makes us more vulnerable to various diseases.

What was I thinking?

I’m a light complexioned African American who, believe it or not, got sucked into the tanning craze back in my youth. I used to slather myself with Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil and roast myself in the sun for hours. I did achieve a glorious tan but I also got several sunburns. Was I crazy, or what? I haven’t had to have any pre or cancerous lesions removed, but I do have sun damaged skin now. Now I slather on the sunscreen and wear a hat whenever I’m in the sun. Lesson learned.

I would like to know if there have been any studies specifically of those folk who work on the water. For instance, when I was growing up in the 50’s & 60’s I worked on sail boats in Long Island Sound every summer.

it may be popular to tan in the states, but in many places in asia, it’s popular to be fair skinned. being tanned = probably worked a hard life in the fields and didn’t have the luxury to be indoors. the grass is always greener….

hi fellow goth on the other side of the country.

I don’t think this this broadcast is fairly balanced.
My Dr. measured that I had a vitamin D deficiency and specifically suggested more time in the sun or get a sunlamp, but not to overdo, just an hour/day.
Alternatively, she suggested that I take 2000 units of vitamin D per day. This program does not make any mention of this vitamin which is as important as vitamin C for many factors of our health, including bone strength and immunity.
So if you tell people to stay out of the sun, then you should also tell them of the importance of vitamin D.

I’m surprised the depletion of the ozone layer is not a part of this conversation. If anyone has ever known someone who died from skin cancer (I do) then this conversation would be moot. It is daily moisterizer with a built in sunscreen for me … then a higher spf for when I’ll be outdoors for longer periods of time.

Younger and younger people are getting skin cancer … it’s real, and it’s increasing. No beauty regime is worth dying for. Ever.

Someone needs to point out that medium and dark-skinned African Americans and other people of color who enjoy sitting in the sun can ALSO burn and get skin cancers and do need to protect themselves with sunscreen.

Also, women who use retinols and other presciption creams need to be extra careful in the sun.

*waves to Tony*

As for the SPF issue, I’ve heard that nothing over 30 is any better. My experiences don’t support this.

My BF and I are both redheads, but with different skin types (him a cool pink, me a warmer alabaster) and hair color. If we both use the same bottle of SPF 30, he burns through it immediately, and I stay pale. He has to go to SPF 70 to get the same effects I get at 30 or 45.

Also, sunscreen is only damaging coral reefs where people swim near the reefs. Daily wear is not causing this issue.

the presentaion of this program is not fairly balanced.
My Dr. had measured that I had a vitamin D deficiency and suggested I spend time tanning either in the sun or with a sunlamp. Alternatively, to take 2000 units of vitamin D per day.
so in all fairness if your telling people to stay out of the sun, you should also mention that they look into vitamin D supplemenets. vit D is as important as vit C and is important for bone strength and immunity.

Alexander, they covered that in detail around the middle of the hour. They also mentioned that in a person under 60, one day in the sun would make enough Vit D for a year.

I naturally have a bronze skin tone but my girl friend burns very quickly even with sun bloke.

any thoughts on the lvl she could use to prevent such? i heard that whatever u put on its actually lower due to missed spots, water and such.

thanks,

“in a person under 60, one day in the sun would make enough Vit D for a year”

Yes, I heard them say that. They also said that one needs to take a Vitamin D suppliment of 1000 IU daily to meet our daily needs without the sun.

Does that mean a day in the sun doses you with 365,000 IU of Vitamin D?? Where does your body store this massive amount, and how does it dole it out over the next 365 days??!!

I believe it is spf that has brought on skin cancers. It only makes sense, but no one seems to question it. It is a known fact that spf only blocks UVB rays which cause the burn, but very little of the UVA rays which cause the skin damage and cancer. It is the burn that tells us we need to get out of the sun as well as the peeling after the sunburn which sloughs off the over exposed cells that could lead to cancer. With spf we falsely believe we are safe and think we can stay out in the sun because we are not burning, but our skin is continuing to absorb the most damaging rays. Doctors always like to point to the invention of tanning beds as the historical marker for the dramatic increase in skin cancer, ignoring the fact wide spread use of spf came at approximately the same time. It’s crazy to me that people believe we are better served by a chemical lotion than our own bodies natural defenses and common sense. We are designed to be outside. If we are out too long we need to be smart and cover up, not add more spf.

I listened with deep regret to this program.

I am a late 40’s female of Irish ancestry who basked in the sun as a kid and young adult. I was of course, born with beautiful pale, alabaster skin but grew up in a culture that celebrated tanned skin and no one knew the long term dangers of the sun. We were all somehow convinced that pale, white skin was ugly and had to be tanned. I became an avid long distance outdoor swimmer after suffering a low back injury in my early 20’s and thought I was safe with sunscreen but now I see the damage of the sun exposure I had. Sunscreen does not protect that well against long term damage. I always looked MUCH younger than my age so I continued the outdoor swimming with sunscreen up until my early 40’s. My family rented a place by the beach and all my cousins would sit out there all day long. I would join them and in my early 40’s wore a wide brimmed hat and #30 sunscreen but I still would get a slight tan. I still stupidly thought it was OK and up until my early 40’s it still looked good. I now have many, many brown spots, have prematurely wrinkled skin, permanent tan lines that will never go away. I now avoid the sun, as I have for the last couple of years, to the point where my family makes fun of me with my wide brimmed hats and long sleeves. But it’s too late. Had I been counseled as a young person on the dangers of the sun, nor been misled by the supposed protection of sunscreen, I would have much healthier and more beautiful skin as an adult.

Although “On Point” is arguably my most favored program on radio or any medium, I was prompted to tune out when I heard this topic announced. But, the program quickly captured my attention. This was, perhaps, one of the saddest discussions I have heard in recent memory: the tragedy of people, women, out of nature, struggling to find WHAT they are and falling so far from the mark, lost. Perhaps somewhere “out there” you will find a woman who will speak for women beautiful in their nature, without adornment, unbowed by the imperial whip.

[...] edition of NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. In the second hour of the show, titled “The Skin You’re In,” Ashbrook and his guests discuss skin color manipulation and the new anthropology of skin [...]

i listen to the program via podcast & it left me conflicted. the whole ‘porcelain’ skin thing & how beautiful they were & young they looked…….i think that only applies to a certain % of the population. so does that mean that anything different is not beautiful?

i am a latina, medium complexion & the darker i am the happier i am. i use sunscreen on my face, but i still prefer to be in the sun. i’m in my mid 40s but most folks would guess early 30s. so if i have skin damage its not evident.

the whole color thing for those of us with color is some what more complex. using me as an example, my cousins freak that i like to be dark, they want to be as white as they can. maybe that’s why i want to be dark……..rebellion that’s been going on for 40+ years.

In Taiwan, women here definitely want to be as pale as possible and they spend a lot of money on creams and such. Some even get intravenous drips that purports to help their skin lose the tan. We all know that beauty standards are arbitrary and there’s really no way to say “this is right, and that is wrong.” But we really have to think when we find ourselves internalizing beauty standards that really hurts us in some way…whether it’s through potential skin cancer down the road through too much tanning or forgoing healthful and enriching outdoor activities due to fear of tanning.

It’s natural and only human to pursue beauty. But we also have to ask “at what price”? and whether there are less harmful, more individualistic ways for us to express our aesthetics.

It’s too bad you didn’t have any scientists on such as I have heard on the BBC. Taking vitamin D orally is *not* the same as getting it from the sun. It is very poorly absorbed from pills. The sun provides an enormous amount of vitamin D which prevents lung cancer. I also don’t see why you are giving everyone the same advice when there are a wide amount of skin types. Brown skinned people or darker are very unlikely to get skin cancer also severe sun burn causes skin cancer not simply being in the sun. I predict a big increase in osteoporosis and lung cancer because of all this false information being spread and you can’t see lung cancer plus there may be no symptoms! The porcelain white look might be more beautiful to your guests not to me. That is her opinion. Next time get a scientist on the show.

I would like to make several points. One is that it is true that darker skinned people are not invulnerable to skin cancer, but they are less vulnerable. In fact, melanin protects against UV, especially UV A (thought to be more responsible for skin cancer) better than does sunscreen. So if you are, like me, fairly light skinned, but can tan fairly easily, you may protect yourself better by getting a gradual tan than by applying sunscreen to the extent of getting no tan. Two is that we do not know if the chemicals in sunscreen are safe. Three is that it is possible for an activity to be unacceptably risky, when taken to an extreme, but not unacceptably risky at any level. That is true of sunbathing, sex, drugs, gambling, eating – maybe any activity.

[...] Posted on July 22, 2009 by Sean In an earlier post, we highlighted an edition of NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook featuring AAA member Nina Jablonski, chair of the Penn State anthropology [...]