Document Type
Article
Abstract
Tanning bed salons are quite popular in the United States, despite warnings that they increase cancer risks and speed the aging process. Warnings have not deterred bed tanners, who seem to value beauty ideals over health concerns. Certainly, tanning occupies a unique space in beauty culture. It offers the ability to transform quickly. And it offers, for those who are truly dissatisfied with their bodies, the ability to adopt a new identity. But why have young women continued this dangerous process when safer tanning processes are now available? This article traces bed tanning's adoption into the grooming ritual. Theories from ritual theory and evolution are incorporated into the discussion as I argue that tanning is not, as some recent studies have suggested, an addiction to the endorphins produced by the process. This article then seeks to understand why young women have adopted darker skin as the beauty ideal. Using the works of cultural critics, together with an analysis of 2007's Pimps and Hos parties, the article links tanning with key social issues. Ultimately, bed tanning seems to provide the sexual freedom and the sense of well-being that these young women are craving.
Repository Citation
Adams, Mary E.. "The Color of Permission: Ritual, Race, and the Tanning Transformation." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 8, no. 4, 2008, pp. 1–12. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol8/iss4/6