Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The Tanned Ideal II

Some desultory additions to yesterday's comments on tanning:

1. For fashion magazines to continue to feature soul-searching and heart-rending pieces about (for example) breast cancer (such as the February Vogue) whilst continuing to implicitly or otherwise to advocate tanning is basically hypocritical. For those in doubt about the public health impact of skin cancer vis-a-vis breast cancer, any Google search will reveal that they are very similar in terms of their mortality and economic impact.

2. It matters not whether or not tanning is addictive (vis-a-vis smoking) for the comparison to be valid. Not all behaviours with adverse health consequences are unquestionably addictive, though of course it would suit some people to claim that tanning is. If it isn't addictive - great, it'll be easier to change the relevant behaviours. If it is addictive - equally great, because it'll be *even more* deserving of public health intervention.

3. If fashion magazines do take a stand on tanning, they can't honestly expect a backlash from readers. Who would care? Advertisers maybe, but so what? Advertise more shoes, or bags. Magazines have survived the death of cigarette advertising.

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