In the past and around the world, skin tones themselves have come in and out of fashion. In the 18th century, Europeans valued pale skin so much that they powdered their faces with white lead in order to achieve a paler face. In 20th century America, tanned skin became a symbol of a healthy, outdoor lifestyle. Skin tones have always reflected different standards of beauty from around the world, but not necessarily cultural appropriation.

The culture surrounding tanning, I believe, is not an appropriation of black culture, or any other culture for that matter; it is a celebration of the wide variation of skin tones that exist across the world. There is a beauty to people of all different colors, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Beauty is about borrowing, accepting and becoming. Beauty is a matter of what an individual’s vision of beauty is.

Many white people tan naturally. While very pale people from Northern Europe often cannot tan, people from Northern Italy have olive-toned skin that will tan to very dark shades. Skin color varies in shade due to where we are from and how the sun affects our skin.

I believe that there should be a freedom to pursue tanning as a beauty device, just as I believe that it is okay for people to wear hair pieces, wigs and weaves as a beauty device. All of these efforts are an attempt to improve one’s beauty potential. None of this has to do with cultural appropriation, it has to do with the beauty enhancement for the particular individual. It is their choice to experiment and have fun with their body. For example, Beyoncé looks beautiful in a blonde wig even though that is not her natural hair.

Spray tanning shouldn’t have a negative connotation. Spray tanning has nothing to do with culture. It is designed to mimic being in the sun. People want to look like they have been at the beach even when they haven’t.

It is also important to understand that spray tanning, the majority of the time, gives the individual’s skin an orange tone rather than a brown tone. Tanning one’s skin does not make them a different ethnicity. Ethnicity is not only about one’s appearances, but also their origin. If one race cannot alter their appearance the way they were born, then no one else can. This is not the world I want to live in. I would like to embrace beauty in all the multi-faceted expressions that it can embody. That is the sole objective of beauty.

I do not want to live in a world where beauty is decided on where you come from. In the end, there is beauty everywhere in every aspect that we can imagine.