Teens and Prom Season are the Biggest Pressures to Tan
Peer pressures are something that every one of us has probably faced at one point, or multiple points, in our lives. In our younger years most of the time peer pressure is associated with the forbidden; things such as smoking or drinking. Later on, perhaps it’s something that comes from our co-workers. There’s another activity included in this topic however that rarely gets brought up, but can have just as much impact as any other: tanning. There certainly is alot of peer pressure with tanning.
To be honest, there are very few things that are of greater concern to us than our outward appearance; especially when we’re younger. We’re constantly aware of how we look to others. Right or wrong, it’s just human nature to assume we’re being at least partially judged by how attractive we think we are, or aren’t. Consequently, we do a variety of things to try and stand out. Some are completely harmless, such as updating or upgrading our wardrobes. Some carry a degree of risk, like cosmetic surgery. And some are even healthy for us, like losing weight.
However some can be extremely dangerous, and it’s in this category that sun-tanning falls into. For some reason, many people have gotten it into their heads that their natural skin tone isn’t good enough. That to maximize their attractiveness they need to bake themselves in the sun, or pay to do it under a lamp. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Tanning has been glamorized on TV, in the movies and even at our local beaches and parks. Some people who otherwise wouldn’t think of tanning see others doing it and reason that to be noticed themselves, they have to “keep up with the Jones’s”. But there’s absolutely no need. The long-term effects of sunburn and sun skin damage far outweigh any good we think we’re doing by subjecting ourselves to the sun’s UV rays. Especially when we eventually realize that we look just as good, in fact better, in our own skin.
And in exchange for short periods of unnatural-looking skin, tanning irreversibly provides us with prematurely-aged skin, sun spots and skin cancers such as deadly Melanoma. They’re the gifts that no one wants, yet they’ll keep on giving.
Outdoor and artificial tanning improves nothing about us at all. Sunless, or pale skin is gorgeous, and those who have it should embrace it. In fact we all should embrace whatever skin tones we were given as what nature intended for us to have. The sooner we accept how much better we look as ourselves, the sooner we’ll gain self-confidence enough to not care about what anyone else is doing. Once that self-confidence takes over it’ll naturally project outward, and do more to make us attractive than any tanning ever could.
Peer-pressure is self-created, regardless of subject. With time or experience most of us learn it’s better to just walk away from it. Tanning is one of those things we trick ourselves into thinking might be beneficial, when the reality is there is no benefit to it at all- only detriments.
So look in the mirror and see-really see-just how beautiful you are as you are. The natural glow that’ll begin to emerge is that self-confidence of yours shining through!
Xo