ABSTRACT
The desire to achieve tanned skin by fair-complected individuals is an interesting
psychological phenomenon. There are many different explanations for this pursuit of skin
darkening. One explanation focuses on differing work environments. When most
individuals were engaged in agricultural pursuits, the farm owners sported fair skin, while
the farmworkers sported tanned skin. Thus, tanned skin indicated a lower socioeconomic
status. When lifestyles changed with the industrial revolution so that most persons worked
indoors, only those who vacationed outdoors sported a tan, allowing tanned skin to be an
indication of higher socioeconomic status. Some argue that Coco Chanel began the tanned
skin revolution by popularizing the use of tanned women in her famous high-fashion
advertisements. There can be no doubt after examining popular press images of women
and men that tanned skin remains desirable, despite medical data to the contrary.
