whats with the tanning?

I've never been in a tanning bed in my life, and I'm as pale as a ghost. A good friend of mine, though, makes sure to have a good tan all year round because she says that "tan fat looks better than pale fat!" :-)

Haha, I can't tan, even if I try. Even mid summer on the beach I'm the whitest person there (non-racial comment). I don't have a problem with other people tanning but I don't understand the concept of tanning beds because of the health risks, costs, etc.

This.
I actually did try to tan about 4 years ago for my sisters wedding (I didn't want to glow!... and the wedding was in april,there's no sunbathing here before July) so I went to the tanning beds at least every other day if not every day for 3 months... didn't get a single shade darker.

Unlike most people, I LOVE being pale.

I'm with you, embrace the colour you are naturally.

In answer to the question, I'm going to go with the vanity/peer pressure thing, if every other skin baring health nut has a nice tan, the the pink/white fitness instructor is going to look a little strange. White still needs to be normalised (along with hairy legs and armpits for women and a lack of a 6 pack for guys).

But I LIKE guys with 6 packs! Seriously, I used to like my paleness too. But then the whole "goth" fad got started (they called themselves punks when I was in high school, but there weren't many of them). I got so tired of hearing, "oh you must be goth" because I was really pale and have dark hair and looked 15 until I was about 25. I was so pale in HS you could see the blue veins coming up the sides of my cheeks and going across my chest. Now my hair's a little grey, and living in the country has tanned me just enough IMO, and I have learned to embrace my shade of pale. But I still hate acanthosis nigricans. >:(

Haha, I'm another albino here. I tried tanning for about two months before and had great results, but it was for a special occasion and I haven't been back since. It really is addicting, by the end it was definitely my favorite part of the day (well, of the every-other-day), but I'm far too afraid of skin cancer to continue longer than that.

If another super special occasion comes up in the future I wouldn't mind going again for another month or two, but I'll definitely never be a regular. On another note- I know people say tanning beds make you look older, but one of my girlfriends has been tanning religiously for the last 8 years or so and still looks amazing, I'll be curious to see what she looks like at age 40 and if anything has changed.

I'm an event tanner. I tanned before my wedding and dances in high school. Going to start tanning again soon for an event in October. Some people look good pale, I'm not one of them.

I agree, real tanning is bad ^^

Many fake tans look natural these days though.

People often tan to "pull the look together" and because it helps to show muscle definition.

I like being very pale, but I used to use Fake Bake ^^ I must say it can give an amazing improvement in appearance, but I'm just too lazy to bother with spray tan now haha Plus, trying to stay pale forces me to wear sunscreen every day ^^

Its the shine that teh tan gives you. Look at body building competitions. All of them either have naturally darker skin, or are severly tanned. Just part of the culture I guess. To be honest, pale white and super buff (at least as a guy) is not very attractive

It has a lot to do with the unflattering florescent lighting in gyms, even I use spray tan when I frequent them in winter because the alternative is looking pasty and flabby under the harsh lighting. Everyone uses tan or sunbeds in the gym so you would be the only pasty one. Also, tanning is very flattering and makes you look slimmer and improves muscle definition as it appears to the eye. Tans may be unhealthy for some depending on how they got them, but they do make you look healthier. I tan very easily and rarely burn and have tried sunbeds, but to be honest it's a faff for me, I would rather use a spray tan if I need some, and these days the spray tan cans you can buy from the toiletries department are not orange at all, some people look orange after getting a salon spray tan, I don't know why that is! I've never had one because I think they look awful.

I'm not gonna lie... A tan looks nice. I tried the whole tanning bed thing, but after using a stand up bed and my armpits got burned I said "Screw it!!!" Even with a little color I realized that I looked better being fair skinned. I went to Hawaii last year for vacation and when I got back to work everyone was like "Are you sure you went to Hawaii? You're still really white." I got burned even with a high SPF, I was bummed when I didn't even get a little color.