[Previous entry: "Last Angel episode"] [Next entry: "Stupid defense attorneys"]
05/21/2004: "Tanning booths are the devil"
So apparently California lawmakers are trying to pass a law that would ban teengers from tanning booths. All the power to them, I saw. Apparently they're one of 26 states that already require parental permission for teenagers to use them. As cited by the article I read on CNN.com, "Backers of the bill, including the California Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, blame tanning salons for part of 1 million new cases of skin cancer diagnosed every year in the United States. The group cited 7,400 deaths annually from melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer."
I swear, every time I start wishing that I wasn't so damn pale, I hear statistics like that and immediately shut up. A few years ago, I signed up for a tanning package and used it once, since it made me feel dirty. The whole time I was laying in the tanning bed, a voice in my head was saying, "You're going to ruin your skin. You're going to get wrinkles. You're going to look 50 when you're 30."
From my understanding, all a tan is is damaged skin. Yeah, I REALLY want THAT. Ever since I was 14, I've worn an SPF on my face every day and have never laid out without being slathered in sunscreen, and whenever I go to get a facial, I get praised over and over about how nice my skin is and how I'm keeping it in such good condition.
I mean, really, we only get the body that we came with. What makes it worth giving yourself wrinkles, leathery skin, and possibly cancer in ten years just so it can be a different color now? People my age might think "It'll never happen to me" or "I only go once a week, it's not that often", but give me a break. That's called d-e-n-i-a-l. Or stupidity. One paradox I've always wondered about is how society has traditionally looked down at non-white ethnicities, but white people are doing everything they can to make their skin bronzer. Whatever, it's your perogative.
Replies: 1 Comment
wish they had a law like that here in canada. I look at my friends who go tanning and i swear they're orange. then they go on to look at me and all my pasty white glory and say "you should try tanning, you'll look great after it!" if i look like that afterwards, no thanksjonielyn@hotmail.com">jonielyn, Tuesday, May 25th