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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be astounded at the number of people stripped off sunbathing in the park when everyone knows how BAD that is for you?

182 replies

LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:05

In an era when smoking is more or less banned and the government spends a fortune telling us to eat better and drink less, why are so many people so obsessed with getting a tan when we all know how bad it is for you?

Apart from skin cancer, all the sun worshippers I know look much older than they really are because they are so lined from lying in the sun.

OP posts:
SilveryMoon · 27/06/2010 16:08

YABU.

As long as all of the people you saw were adults, they all know the risks and it is their choice.

ivykaty44 · 27/06/2010 16:09

Yes, I have a fb fiend who has had cancer - and keeps upadting her status as "topping up my tan - wowow" i think to myself well that mnust be dangerous - but not sure I should ay anything - surely she must have been told? My mum was told to stay out of the sun altogether when she had cancer

expatinscotland · 27/06/2010 16:09

I'm about to take the kids out. They'll be coated in suncream.

I won't.

I want a tan on my legs.

Yep, bad for me. So was all that smoking and boozing and shagging around I did.

You're a dead a long time.

ivykaty44 · 27/06/2010 16:10

sm - yes it is there choice - but who ends up paying for the treatment when it goes wrong?

usualsuspect · 27/06/2010 16:10

Yabu ,its their choice and doesn't affect you in the slightist

Tiredmumno1 · 27/06/2010 16:10

at the nasty men that think its attractive to whip their shirts of whenever. keep them on.

and you would think they would be a bit more clued up on how bad the sun can be for you.

audrey68 · 27/06/2010 16:11

its only if u have had skin cancer u r told to stay out of the sun totally, my husband has had cancer twice, has never been told not to go in the sun twice and still enjoys being out in the sun, as long as you use a high factor, dont sit out between 11-3pm then you are minimising the risks and everyone today knows the risks involved but they r adults and it is their choice

Original poster
LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:12

It's always struck me as bizarre that here and in the US we are obsessed with being brown and yet in Africa and SE Asia, women destroy their skin with bleach in order to be lighter.

What a fucked up world we live in

Why wouldn't you wear sunscreen expat? I don't get it. Mind you, you're in Scotland - it's probably not as hot there

OP posts:
Original poster
LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:14

Of course it's their choice. Am I not allowed to have any opinion on anything that doesn't affect me directly?

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 27/06/2010 16:16

I have quite olive skin, LB. It's fair but it goes brown in the sun.

And I prefer the bronzed look on myself.

I do regret sun damaging my face, so I use a moisturiser with built in sunscreen, but that's it.

I never use sunscreen on my body and never have.

I've only burned a couple of times in my life, though, and that was in places with far more sun than here.

I miss it that I have to actually work on a tan here.

Original poster
LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:18

I am very fair skinned. Maybe I would feel differently about it if I went brown

The number of times I've been in the office and people come in on a Monday after a sunny weekend burned to a crisp laughing ruefully has always shocked me.

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 27/06/2010 16:18

a68 - hate to say but you are wrong - I can asure you that the consultant told my mum to stay out of the sun, she died of ovarian cancer - I doubt the consultant got things worngs and she did not have skin cancer

slouchingtowardswaitrose · 27/06/2010 16:19

There's an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the UK.

Live and let bronze...

SilveryMoon · 27/06/2010 16:21

ik44 Yes, I understand that the taxpayer will have to pay for their treatment if they get skin cancer, but who will pay for yours or mine if we catch lung cancer from car exhaust fumes.
(touch wood neither of us will) So IMO, that doesn't really matter
LB Of course you are allowed your opinions, but you asked a question about whether you were being unreasonable to be astounded at the number of people out sunbathing, and the answer to that IMO is yes you are.
Or rather YABU to care really and to comment.

audrey68 · 27/06/2010 16:21

ivy - maybe ur told 4 different types of cancer then? my hubby had testicular cancer which then spread and still goes for yearly checkups, he works in singapore and has never been told to stay out sun, pretty impossible there anyway, but he is very sensible and wears a very high factor

saintlydamemrsturnip · 27/06/2010 16:21

There are some who believe that always being coated in suncream is bad for you as it reduces vitamin D protection. Which incidentally protects against melanoma. Interesting idea. Perhaps another 'everything in moderation' personally I get the kids to wear hats, protect obvious spots like the back of necks but try not to get too paranoid.

saintlydamemrsturnip · 27/06/2010 16:23

Sorry vitamin d production.

Original poster
LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:24

"Some people are taking the safe sun message too far," Pearce said. "It's good to have 20 to 30 minutes of exposure to the sun two to three times a week, after which you can put on a hat or sunscreen.

I'm not talking about that. I'm not remotely hysterical about sun. My DC only wear sun screen when I know they're going to be out in the sun all day long.

That isn't the same as lying in full sun for hours on end

OP posts:
saintlydamemrsturnip · 27/06/2010 16:24

Ah I see slouching got in there before me.

ivykaty44 · 27/06/2010 16:25

well yes audrry68 - it isn't just skin cancer you are told to stay out of the sun for, this is why I wonder why people that have had cancer go and sun bath to get a tan, as there are types you are told to stay out of the sun.

Staying out of the sun - means covering up and wearing big hats and using sun cream on exposed area - doable in any country - think of all the hot countries where they cover from head to toe for other reasons.

Original poster
LadyBiscuit · 27/06/2010 16:26

I'm trying to take my mind off England's appalling performance SM

And my DC asked me why the people were lying around in their pants in the park and I didn't have a good answer

OP posts:
audrey68 · 27/06/2010 16:28

i think anyone who has had skin cancer and the sunbathes is MAD!! my husband is very fair, we are scottish and i know he is paranoid about staying safe, his is an outdoor job and he always tries to cover up etc but unfortunately cant stay out of the midday sun as working but he has never been burnt in the 2 years out there but he also doesnt actively seek getting a tan. he has however watched many of his scottish colleagues be out in it all day with no protection on and they r burnt to a crisp, and then once healed they do it all over again - as i say - MAD!!

saintlydamemrsturnip · 27/06/2010 16:34

I suspect it varies from consultant to consultant. The evidence isn't 100% for danger from the sun - by which I mean that sun exposure isn't universally bad - especially for a place like the uk where we get so little and don't have an ozone hole above us - and presumably consultants have their own opinions about how much sun exposure is sensible and how much is dangerous.

CoteDAzur · 27/06/2010 16:36

TABU. How do you know that they are not using adequate sun protection cream?

saintlydamemrsturnip · 27/06/2010 16:36

Do people who have had skin cancer sun bathe though? Is there any evidence that they do?

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