Why do you sunbathe - honestly ?

[NCTDN]

Genuine question so please don't judge me. I'm not racist so please don't think that but am truly intrigued as to the reasons for sunbathing.
Just returned from turkey which was really really hot! I'm pale skinned and do feel better for a tan. So I alternated between staying in the shade, the pool and the sun, determined to get some colour. But it was uncomfortably hot.
Lots of people stayed in in the shade understandably. But there were non-white people in the sun.
If you already have tanned skin, why do you stick it out in the sun ?

Well yes of course. I don't think that's exactly a secret kept by 'top dermatologists'!

Oh. I read the title and thought this was going to be ‘why do you sunbathe given that there is no such thing as a safe tan and melanoma is a bastard of a disease?’ but then realised you were on about something completely different.

Intriguing that in a follow-up post you said your sunbathing on holiday was ‘hard work’. Why on earth would you do something you don’t enjoy which carries a significant risk of giving you a particularly nasty cancer purely to make your skin go darker?

‘Sunbathing’ as an activity in and of itself is a bonkers and dangerous thing to do IMO.

(My dad died of melanoma so I’m always salty about this topic- sorry.)

I love sunbathing and sitting in the sun because it makes me feel happy, but not if it's too hot. I don't get much of a chance to sit in the sun with a book these days but I'm very outdoorsy, love gardening, walking etc and I get tanned in the summer despite wearing spf 50. I feel healthier for being outside and active I'll just be extremely vigilant for moles

I have also heard that. But the first time I saw a dermatologist for a mole scan, he was very tanned having just returned from a yachting holiday in the South of France 😂

I would presume people simply enjoy the feel of sun on their skin. I wouldn't see it as a means to change their skin colour. I'm very very pale, I pretty much just reflect the sun and don't tan so sunbathing for me was never about skin tone.

I did find myself wondering a few times if very dark skinned people need sunscreen. I thought it was a varying resistance thing in the way i would burn in minutes whereas a friend who is white with an olive skintone would need a longer exposure to burn. I presumed on that scale that a black skinned person would not burn at all but it appears I'm wrong and it's risk of cancer is the factor I didn't consider.

She means why do dark skinned people want to sit I. The sun when it's so hot and not pleasant to sit out in as they already have dark skin.

I'm white and I love sunbathing, it has nothing to do with getting a tan, I just love the sensation of hot sun on my skin. A tan is an undesirable side effect for me and I do my best to prevent it.

I know what you’re getting at, because I’m like you. I also know the answer…

Those people who voluntarily go out in the sun, regardless of their skin colour…… don’t hate the sun and heat the way we do!

Hard to believe though it is for you and I, some people enjoy that sensation of intense heat and bakedness. They like the biscuit smell of their skin, and the way the warmth penetrates through to their bones.

I only know this because I’ve been to Tenerife in winter, where you can get all the above at about 20 degrees. It feels nice- for a few minutes.

I’m finding out current weather hard to cope with, and hiding inside, while other people are out there smiling and enjoying themselves. Weirdos!

Interesting that you @NCTDN didn't mention that you were only on about people with dark skin/people of colour in your thread title!

I am part Italian, and have a mid-tan coloured skin anyway, and my skin goes much darker after I have been in the sun a few times. I like my skin colour normally, and I like it darker too. It suits me, I look healthy, and as people have said, it's good for you to get vitamin D. (Wear sunscreen obvs!)

I LOVE the feeling of the sun on me, and can sit in it for hours.

What? People who aren’t white can also tan! My DP is Jamaican and gets so much darker in the sun.

He also handles the sun and heat in general much, much better than me. I can sit in it for about 15 minutes before I need to revert back to an umbrella. He can sit in it all day.

Classic Mumsnet hyperbolic response.

In case anyone wasn’t clear on the OP: they’re asking why black people sunbathe.

I sunbathe because I enjoy lying out in the sun reading my book. I'm not doing it because I want a sun tan.

I tan really easily but don't tend to burn, so I don't put sunscreen on as much as I should. As a result by about mid May I'm usually about as tanned as I going to get, just from walking around in rainy Wales!

So if I'm sunbathing it's for the sheer enjoyment of it.

Op never said that and you know she didn't. How are we ever supposed to learn if everytime someone asks a question they get shit for it.

They all know exactly what she meant their purposely being difficult.

I am white. I don't like sitting in the sun because I just find it too hot. My sister loves sitting in the sun and has a high tolerance for heat. DD and DH, both of whom tan easily as DH is meditteranean and she has his skin, are referred to jokingly around here as our "little vampires" - neither one can stand the sun and are rushing inside, under umbrellas and hats at the smallest sign of a bit of sun. DS on the other hand, looks like a little viking. He doesn't mind being out in the sun at all, but has to be super careful as he burns v quickly.

Skin colour, and even desire for a tan is irrelevant. some people just like sun and others don't.

I like a tan. It's very relaxing and vitamin D is good for you.

Only with my antenatal supplements. It’s hard to get them to prescribe any D3 unless really depleted & I’ve never gotten round to buying them. Tbh my comment was a bit tongue in cheek, I’ll take any sun we can get here since it’s not much😂

There is interesting new research suggesting that sunbathing decreases the risk of some diseases and non-skin cancers. Obviously it massively increases skin cancer risk but it's not devoid of benefits.

They might not be sunbathing. Not everyone who goes out in the sun is doing so to get a tan. Some people don’t feel it’s endurance. They like the sun and the heat.You don’t, fair enough. It’s a non issue.

She’s working from her perspective which is, the only reason to endure the sun is to tan.

I like the sun on my face ( although not for long these days as I can't hack it anymore!) and it feels lovely to sit with a book in the warmth.

My DDs are mixed race and love getting a bit darker

I agree, I never knew anyone of darker skin growing up, i grew up in a place with zero diversity in terms of race and religion. I had never met a Protestant or a Muslim either fwiw.

Recently a child neighbour who is very dark skinned, an African immigrant had a deep cut and I was surprised to see the skin regrowth was pink and stayed pink for a while until eventually a brown layer grew. I thought it would be brown throughout and asked a friend if everybody white knew this, was i just being foolish or ignorant. It was news to her too. But if I had asked my black colleague at work about her skin it could be perceived as being racist so I was afraid to ask. I also now want to know how you can see a bruise on dark skin so if anyone can help me with that I'd appreciate it!!

I don’t sunbathe , maybe ten minutes after getting out of the pool on holiday to dry off but too fair skinned to consciously expose myself to burning and skin cancer

Gosh they really must have been at the pinnacle of dermatology to know that!