Black girl tanning is taking over TikTok this summer. Here’s what it’s all about
Once seen as products meant exclusively for white people, tanning solutions have now broken into the Black and Brown beauty market, with models and influencers literally beaming about the results. With tanning racial minorities are not only evening out their skin tones and getting a golden glow for the summer, however. They are also dismantling a racist status quo in the beauty industry.
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Why are Black women tanning all of a sudden?
Black and Brown women have actually been quietly tanning themselves for years now. One of the first influencer girlies to bring visibility to this trend was YouTuber Patricia Bright. In a video uploaded in February 2019, the content creator shared the results of her self-tanning process with her 2.76 million subscribers.
“I feel a bit more rich in colour. I feel like this is what I needed,” Bright said as she presented her glowing skin to the camera.
However, some of the reactions to this video depicting a Black woman getting a spray tan were less than enthusiastic. This prompted Bright to hit back at her critics with a statement in her comment section: “So in this video I tried something very new for me, spray tanning. Yes, I’m Black, with gorgeous melanin, however, I love trying beauty treatments and this one was one thought I should try,” the content creator stated.
“Reading some of the comments it’s so sad to see the limited thinking from some, as if a Black girl can’t try a beauty treatment, that millions of [white] women try all the time. We complain about diversity and inclusion, but then it’s our own who say, ‘Oh, you can’t do this.’ Why not sis?”
Her response highlighted that preconceptions around tanning and ‘who gets to do it’ are not only present within a white audience but also a point of confusion for many Black viewers. In fact, almost every Black girl tanning video on YouTube or TikTok is preceded by a thorough explanation about why the person is subjecting themselves to the beauty treatment.
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Preempting these questions, Indian-American actress and producer Mindy Kaling gave a detailed explanation of why she loves a good tanning sesh in her 2015 memoir Why Not Me.
“Two or three times a year, I get a spray tan,” Kaling writes. “It turns out I’m white after all!” she jokes. Then she goes on to share some crucial pearls of wisdom with her readers that aptly describe why people with darker complexions tan: “It’s not about changing the colour, it’s about evening the colour.”
Hyperpigmentation, dark scarring, and uneven skin patches are common skincare issues among people of colour. As a result, most products specifically tailored for ethnic minorities focus on improving the evenness of skin, something that skin makeup like tanning spray can also help with.
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So it doesn’t take a genius to recognise the unfair racial bias present here that women with lighter skin tones don’t have to contend with. This bias reaffirms the idea that tanning is only meant for deepening the skin tone, meaning that it’s an unnecessary treatment for Black women because they are already ‘dark enough’.
On top of this, it also keeps this treatment wherein so many dark-skinned women find joy and empowerment inaccessible and exclusive to a lighter-skinned audience.
The status quo of tanning and the beauty industry
After centuries of being associated with lower-class and outdoor workers, tans have become a symbol of wealth and cosmopolitan living. Who would have thought?
Wealth was historically associated with the fairness of skin, distinguishing people of European descent who spent their lives in castles, carriages and under parasols.
Today, the same upper class is spending their days on Caribbean beaches, yacht vacations in Greece, boating in Nantucket and Montauk, or sun-filled meadows in the Hamptons. And they want the tan to prove it, signifying that tanning is now seen as the golden cloak of luxury and leisure.
Needless to say that the beauty industry did not wait a second to capitalise on this new development. Products to produce this exotic glow that will make you look like you just fell out of a swimsuit catalogue have been steady sellers ever since.
Of course, tanning has also been interrogated for its racial implications and problematic uses. White women who take the trend a bit too far (aka Kim Kardashian) have frequently been accused of blackfishing.
Women of colour, however, who utilise spray tans to gain that extra shine are frequently being accused of cosplaying as white women.
This underscores how the beauty standards of the industry are still built around lighter skin. Fairness as well as tans are uniquely Caucasian concepts that Black and Brown women are unfairly held against. In other words, our skin is always off somehow. And whether we are lightening it through dangerous bleaching products, or darkening it to get a glow for summer, we’re always doing it wrong, never quite able to compare.
What does the summer of Black girl tanning reflect?
Black and Brown women are starting to interrogate trends and demand access and inclusion in procedures that were previously regarded as unnecessary or off-limits.
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They are reshaping the beauty industry by asking them to acknowledge their problems and desires through waves of trends like Black tanning. And we love to see it!
