Few of us like being told what to do. If we’re an adult, we should be able to decided what is or isn’t in our own best interests. That perspective is perfectly valid, absolutely American and worthy of heed … unless of course, we’re making those decisions with bad information.
According to a just-released Congressional report, researchers posing as fair-skinned teenage girls called tanning salons to inquire about the risks associated with their services. Among those salons contacted, 90 percent told the “girls” that indoor tanning did not pose any health risks. More than half the salons denied that tanning bed use increases risk of cancer. Using terms such as as “rumor” and “hype,” more than three-quarters of salons said indoor tanning is actually beneficial to the health of teenage girls.
We recognize that a growing number of Americans are suspicious of governmental overreach. Often this is with good cause, but in the case of disreputable tanning salons, the game is rigged and needs correction.
The dice are loaded because tanning salons (along with several other industries) target a vulnerable population. According to the National Association of Social Workers, the self-image of a teenage girl can be an especially fragile and malleable thing, “Social influences … which include the media and popular/mainstream culture, may promote specific images and standards of beauty and attractiveness that contradict good health practices and one’s ability to achieve a specific body type or image. U.S. society places great value on looks and exalts images unachievable by most.”
As the American Association of University Women reports, many adolescent girls believe physical appearance is a major part of their self-esteem and their body is a major sense of self. According to the AAUW, body dissatisfaction can lead to poor health habits and low self-esteem. These negative feelings may contribute to a higher prevalence of depressive symptomatology and lower self-esteem among girls. As the National Women’s Health Information Center observes, these feelings can manifest as a variety of negative health behaviors associated with poor eating habits, dieting, depression and anxiety, and eating disorders.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
All of this simply goes to the point that fishing in the metaphorical baited spot, isn’t sporting. It isn’t ethical and in this case, it preys upon girls and young women who are ceaselessly inundated with a cacophony unobtainable of media images. If by no other evidence than the fact that the average fashion model weighs 23 percent less than the average American woman, we should be wary.
In response to the Congressional report, Timothy Turnham, executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation, makes a chilling comparison, “The misinformation campaign supported by the tanning industry is jarringly reminiscent of previous campaigns by the tobacco industry.”
Turnham goes on to reiterate a core tenet of the MRF: “By spreading misinformation and creating a false sense of security, the tanning industry is playing fast and loose with the lives of young people. The public deserves honest, truthful information about the risks of tanning.”
In America we cherish our freedom, even if that freedom permits us to do stupid, self-destructive, vain and empty things. We take it as our God-given right to act largely as we choose. Few among us would harken to a day of mindless regimentation and uniformity. As a country, that’s just not who we are.
Even so, when we see a large part of a popular industry openly lying to our daughters — often with deadly consequences, we don’t mind the idea of government reaching out a little further.