I can already imagine the uproar if this orange-skin fashion faux pas became widespread: “It’s what’s within, not on your skin!” “Orange ya glad we had the civil rights movement?” “This is discrimination, damnit!”
A head teacher is cracking down on schoolgirls who turn up for class looking “orange” after using fake tans.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure at first what to think of this. Don’t get me wrong– you couldn’t get any more entrenched in Ugly As Hell than orange fake tans. I’m not a fan of them, and I’m sure most sensible people aren’t either. These well-meaning teachers will not get much support, however, because they are doing what their pupils will interpret as a blatant truncation of their independence and creativity. (Nevermind that they’re all just trying to look like Paris Hilton– that’s not the point!)
The teacher has good intentions, believing (rightly) that the increased rate of melanoma isn’t worth it to turn the color of an overcooked sausage. She adds that they strive to “promote natural beauty and contentment with one’s looks”, which, if true, couldn’t make me happier.
The problem I do see with all this is that it can actually be counterintuitive. The kids see that their mentors and parents are telling them what to do and simply go, “fuck that”. They don’t hear “you’re beautiful just as you are”, but rather “I don’t like how you’re making yourself look, stop it.” In the end, it simply builds more pressure and tension: the media says yes and their loved ones say no; they’re trapped in a limbo between what is acceptable in popular culture and in their schools and homes. And which do you think will win in the end?
Perhaps if schools spent more time encouraging what they do think works, rather than discouraging what they think doesn’t…
