This is the biggest mystery to me, Asians want to be as pale as possible, since white is beautiful, yet white people want to tan themselves?
I have never seen a white girl using umbrella under the scotching Australian sun to protect themselves from tanning.
because walking to the shops or to the car isn't going to give you skin cancer. And most people wear sunscreen anyway if they're going to be outside. I always keep sunscreen in my car and backpack in case I ever get caught in a situation where I feel I might be outside too much in summer.
Also, tanning isn't actually that bad, when skin gets lightly tanned it builds up a moderate defence to UV rays, which prevent someone from being sunburned. White people also tan because they need to. White people have skin that more easily soaks up uv light and vitamin d because in Europe the sun isn't hotter. Therefore it becomes necessary for skin to tan when exposed to prolonged UV exposure if we are not to become deficient during the colder periods.
There are cultural reasons why white and Asian people differ.
Firstly, Asian societies generally associate lighter skin with higher castes, and darker skin with lower. As working in manual labour was the lowest form of social strata, and pale skin was a feature of nobility or at least being middle class enough to not work outdoors in the hot sun.
European people generally come from colder countries. European people used to wear wigs and face powder made from arsenic that would lighten the skin. Again, white skin was for women associated with being of a higher class. The fashion for tanned skin originated during the British empire where the british royal family would visit its dominions and come back with tanned skin. It was at this point that having tanned skin carried about its cultural meaning that if you had somewhat tanned skin it meant that you lived in a social class that allowed you to pursue leisure pursuits such as travel.
It is important for all people to have some degree of expsosure to the sun. For instance, women who wear burkas are more likely to have children that are bowlegged or have rickets.
Vitamin D is actually a vitamin most associated with preventing cancers and other degenerative diseases, including some forms or mental illness such as depression from seasonal affective disorder.
