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Q: More Chinese getting tanned?
Or is it me?
My Wechat newsfeed increasingly has girls taking photos of themselves with their new tan.
And I see more youth with tan outside, not hiding themselves from the sun, especially girls.
Anyone knows what's going on?
I'd guess it's developing like it did in the west. Back in Victorian times in the UK (back end of 19th century/start of 20th century) the rich or even middle classes did all they could to avoid tanned skin as it was seen as being a peasant/farmer. I'd guess Germany was the same?
China has been like that until recently with trying to avoid looking like a nong min.
I think for a lot more of the younger Chinese now, who travel abroad, are seeing it as a way to show that they can afford to travel & be worldly wise.
What hotwater said... and a healthy dose of ignorance towards skincancer !
more people in the city are getting office jobs, looking pale pasty and boring, not fun and sophisticated anymore. so it like the west, where people have been avoiding looking like office Joe for decades now. But if you think about it, it's all the same really.
Some of the younger folks have figured out that its not the skin thats important, but rather how well your attire is, AND how you carry yourself. A well dressed, and tanned Asian person who's properly educated and talks of travels abroad speaks volumes to whomever they cross paths with...
Hmm, I haven't seen it, but could be possible. One thing to consider is the money trail. Companies that sell products that lighten the skin (like creams or facial masks) have a lot of money invested in getting Chinese to believe that light skin is more beautiful than dark skin (otherwise, they couldn't sell their products).
Historically, light skin was a sign of being upper class (not working outside, like mentioned above), but cosmetic companies took the preexisting preference, and used it as their selling point.
I see three main ways that dark skin could come into vogue: There could be counter advertising by companies trying to promote dark skin (travel agencies, for example). I don't see this happening, since Chinese already like to travel, and just avoid the sun when abroad.
Chinese could just stop caring about conforming to beauty standards, just refuse to let society tell them how to look. I think some might do this, but I don't see it as happening for most Chinese, since there is too much pressure, being told "You won't find the guy you want if you're too dark". Also, China doesn't encourage non-conformity like the West does (he said, understatingly).
Chinese could also follow the Western trend of tanning, adopting more Western standards in that way. I see this maybe as the most likely, since the whole obsession with light skin started with emulating the upper classes, the people held in high regard, who were light skinned (they probably didn't do it intentionally, just wanted to be like the people up top, and the people up top didn't work outside, so they had light skin). Celebrities are currently looked up to, and they often sport tans, and tans are just an overall part of Western beauty.
