I’m
certainly not too proud to admit it, but I did get a spray tan before the Mistletoe Dance. I went to Zen Bronze in Greenwich, and I knew for a fact that places like
these are carved out for certain groups of people. The large sign outside the
salon had a picture of a tall, blonde, tan girl with perfect features, which implied that getting a spray tan there would automatically make you look perfect like that. When we
got inside, there were signs posted everywhere about the organic elements of
the spray tan, and how it was a healthy alternative to tanning beds. This can be thought of as a form of propaganda to help justify the reasoning for getting one.
This
tanning salon targets a very small demographic around the country, but this
small demographic is actually the majority in the Fairfield County—Greenwich in
particular. This tanning salon was targeted towards upper class
white teenagers in Fairfield County. Being tan has come to be a cultural symbol
of wealth and high status. Personally, I had a shin guard tan to get rid of,
but the owner was telling us about all of the girls who come in before
returning to college in order to make it look like they went on some expensive vacation
to a tropical island.
There
are no physical boundaries preventing any group from accessing Zen Bronze, it is a public business. But, cultural boundaries do exist. For example, it would be a surprise for a darker
skinned person to go in and ask for a spray tan. This would just not be culturally
acceptable in this physical place. It is amazing how a place with absolutely no
physical boundaries is able to put a wall
due to cultural expectations.
Nicole, I'm laughing at your line about the shin guard tan lines. But I love that you recorded this experience--although it might be interesting to describe the physical place, too. Does the physical space cater to the clientele you describe? Is it visually set apart, or no? Also, as for the cultural expectations about people with darker skin getting spray tans...ummm...is it really a wall? I mean, if you're dark skinned, you don't really need a tan, right? And then there's also a different set of standards of beauty for dark-skinned women (the social standard there is, ironically, to actually to look as light as possible). So while there's definitely social injustice at work, I'm not sure it's skin-toned based, except in deeply ironic ways. Maybe, as you point out, more social class based?
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