Don’t Forget to Bring an Umbrella!

By Tiffany W.

Those were words I heard every time I left the house (back in Indonesia).

“Why?” I asked.

My mom always told me that the sun can damage your skin; you need an umbrella to protect your skin from excessive sun exposure.

That’s right! According to research, if you spend too much of your time outdoors under the sun, you are increasing the risk of wrinkles, age spots, uneven skin tone, and skin cancer. (http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/tanning)

I do believe that. But, do you really think that’s the only reason why we need to stay away from the sun?

Definitely not! You won’t hear others talking about this out loud, obviously. But, here is “our” reason why we do not want sun exposure.

“Skin tone is proxy for socioeconomic situation” – In the article that I read, it gives an explanation of how in certain Asian cultures, darker skin symbolized being poor, and whiter skin is considered more attractive. (http://www.quora.com/Why-do-Westerners-like-being-tan-while-Asians-prefer-being-pale).

Back home, darker skin is attributed to the lower (working) class, since most of their time is spent out in the fields/street, outdoors. By the same reasoning, fair skin is considered to be an attribute of the higher class since most of their time is spend indoors, working in an office, driving in a car, staying at home.

In the United States, darker skin is consider more appealing because a tan person is thought to have spent more of their time vacationing in a warm climate. People go to great lengths to have darker skin; for example, tanning spray, tanning bed, etc. Very pale skin seems unnourished and not healthy.

Take a look around you when you visit Asia. It is normal for everyone, especially women, to carry their umbrellas at all times. For Americans, this seems funny and unreasonable just because they do not understand "our" culture.

#sun #umbrella #indonesia #asian #culture #sunexposure #customs