I have worked at the tanning salon, Sandy Beaches, for over a year now. It is a really fun job. I get to see my friends, talk to customers, and learn a lot of things about skin and the effects tanning has on it. Little did I know, this summer I would learn a lot more about tanning than I thought.
When most people think of tanning salons they automatically think of women coming in to tan. People never think of men coming in to tan. One day I was working this summer and a couple of my friends stopped by to keep me company because business is really slow during the summer. As we were taking, a male customer walked through the door. As I was getting up to help him, I turned and looked at my friends and they both had smirks on their faces. While I was asking the male customer’s information to put him in a tanning bed, I could hear my friends snickering and whispering. The man obviously could tell that they were talking about him, and just ignored it. After he walked back to the tanning bed one of my friends said, “OH MY GOSH! I can’t BELIEVE that men tan here. It’s like so weird!” At that moment I began to think of our class. Not only do we talk about race, we also talk about gender. Why was it so weird that a man was tanning at an indoor tanning salon?
I then thought back to previous instances where men would come in and tan. It really never seemed weird to me that they tanned, but obviously to someone who has never seen a man in a tanning salon it was. I began to think as to why indoor tanning should only pertain to women. It really shouldn’t. To me tanning is like any other grooming activity. Just like getting your haircut, shaving, people do go tanning, and not only women, but men, too. When you go to the beach and you see men lying in a beach chair soaking up the rays with their girlfriends or friends, it doesn’t raise eyebrows. Although, the minute a man steps foot into an indoor tanning salon it is deemed as unusual.
I wish that the norm of indoor tanning salons should go away. For once, men are being scrutinized for being male and being in a tanning salon. So, the question I raise is, were my friends being sexist towards males? It is weird to think about it, but in my opinion they were.
1 comment:
Interesting blog. I have a friend, who is a person of color, who tans and I went with one time just to experience and the looks I received so I took it all the way and she let me use one of her sessions just to make a point. It all goes down to something we are not familiar with and because it goes against what we value or understand, we tend to object. Did you put your friends in check? Did you apologize to the man for making him feel uncomfortable? The employees did not apologize to me, but I did speak with Manager and indicated that people use tanning for health reasons when they have skin issues, so the immaturity and lack of professionalism was enough for my friend to get her unsused sessions returned. They would not allow her to do that, but I think she is still fighting that decision. Sometimes, we have to move away from the crowd and do the right thing. Question: Has he come back to the center yet?
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