“For sunbeds, I found less than a handful of examples of men in contrast to thousands of ‘perfect-looking’ women, always tanned, white, toned, affluent-looking, with big hair, pouting or smiling, with lots of ‘natural’ makeup,” says Dr. Creed of her research. In the few examples she found of tanned men, they were either fully dressed or not shown undergoing the ‘passive’ tanning ritual of sunbathing, using a sunbed, or applying fake tan. “Instead,” she says, “they were always shown as ‘active’ and ‘macho’, such as playing sports with a tan, socializing, or chatting up women.” Tanning “100% has a sexist history,” she says.
