AEE 2719: How Tanning Culture is Changing in the U.S.

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2719, How Tanning Culture is Changing in the U.S. Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host,

Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.

in your culture. Today, learn how to talk about sunbathing in a grammatically correct way and how to open up a conversation about tanning in the U.S. Hello, Aubrey. What's going on today?

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you doing? Good. So we're recording this right at the end of the summer. We're getting into our fall, but do you like to go sunbathing?

In the summertime? I used to lay out. I used to sunbathe when I was younger. I don't much anymore. When we're at the beach, I usually will try to be under shade.

I'm either in the sun because I'm doing sports or in the water. And then I won't really lay out. I don't care that much. to be tan. What about you, Lindsay?

Exactly the same. When I remember in high school in the 90s, when my friend and I used to go to the tanning beds, we used to go tanning. It was never a bed where I went. We would stand up, you'd go in a room and you would just get exposed to this UV light.

But I haven't done that in a long time. I did that like three times when I was in high school. And I was like, I don't think this is good. Yeah. Yeah, I had a premonition, right?

And now people don't really do it anymore as much. But we do have... There used to be those tanning salons everywhere where people would go and get in the tanning beds, but I don't see those anymore. They might exist somewhere about...

No, you don't see them quite as much. But definitely it's true that, at least I think in American culture, in the last, let's say, 30 years, tan has been sort of attractive. Like tan skin has been attractive. Yeah.

And there's like, when I go to the beach, there's still tons of... teenagers, younger people who are just laying out on the beach working on their tan, right? Sunbathing. So yeah, it's still pretty popular here in the States.

But this was interesting in our open conversation club. This came up, students were talking about tanning and called it a sunbath. They said you can't sunbath as easily in Canada. So I was like, oh, interesting.

We say sunbathe. And then it was just interesting. It's more like a different... different pronunciation. And then it led us into this really interesting conversation about tanning culture.

wow, this is going to be great. Because I think right now we might even be seeing a shift back to non-tan skin being... I'm guessing that's going to happen in the near future just because all this research is coming out around the danger of UV rays. And so I feel like the culture follows the research by like 20 years usually.

So things swing back and forth in terms of what is beautiful. Yeah. It's interesting. Yeah, this is really interesting. I'm excited to dive into this.

Definitely hit follow if you're not following the podcast. We often have conversations about this where we're sharing not just the vocabulary, the grammar, but also these cultural insights of trends and how things work in the States and elsewhere in the English speaking world. So hit follow wherever you listen to podcasts. Yeah, guys, follow the show.

So then let's just answer this question from the top of the show because you got this question in Open Conversation Club. How would you say sun bath correctly? What did you correct our listeners, our students to say? Yeah, this is interesting.

So we don't use this as a noun. We wouldn't say a sun bath. Like we'll say the bath where we're in the bathroom taking a bath. but we'll use the verb sunbathe, right?

That someone's going to sunbathe. And that's just written as one word with an E at the end. And so there is no noun for that. We'd call someone, if someone's skin, they're trying to darken it in the sun, they'd call that a tan.

And then you could use that verb, both either tanning or sunbathing. Yes, exactly. So again, it becomes a verb. It's not really, we don't take a sun bath, we sunbathe as the action, right?

And sometimes it's just to lie in the sun to warm up, right? Or just like, oh, you just want to feel the warm sun on your skin. It might not be for the express purpose of darkening your skin. Right, right.

And they were saying you can't sunbathe in Canada. Is that true? I mean, there must be some places where... I think they were talking about that it was cold there at the time.

They're like, lay out here, you got to go to Mexico, go somewhere where it's warmer. Okay, I see. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Can we use this also as a gerund, Aubrey?

And what would that look like? Yeah, you could say I love sunbathing when I'm on vacation, or I avoid sunbathing because I have sensitive skin or I don't want to sunburn. Yep. Yep.

And then what is the other phrase? I feel like we used to use this phrase. You already mentioned it in the episode in the 90s. What else do we say? Like when we go out to the pool?

I know people that still do this now, right? We know. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. We say lie out or lay out. This is interesting. This is a really common grammar mistake in English, actually, that native English speakers will often say lay when they mean lie.

So this is really complicated, but we will say lay out, I'm going to lay out, which is a mistake. You should say I'm going to lay out because lay is past tense. Is the past tense. But then if your partner comes home, you say, what did you do today?

I mean, it feels weird for native speakers to say it correctly, I would say. Right. I lay out today in the past. This is one of those grammar errors. It's like you hear it wrong so often that it sounds strange when you say it right.

Yeah. So honestly, what native speakers do, we're giving you the insider secrets here. We just we just jump around it. Maybe some grammarians will say it correctly and just be proud and whatever.

Yeah. But most people, they either say it wrong. Maybe they'd say, I lied out. What do they say in the past tense? It would either be, I lay out. I lay out is actually correct.

Or if you're using present perfect, laid out, because that's the past participle, right? I've laid out on this chair. And then, oh, it's complicated grammar. Because the tricky thing is that with this verb...

You can have, it can be lay if there's a direct object. So this is really complicated grammar. There's a reason native speakers make mistakes so often. So I wouldn't stress about it, but it's true.

We will still use this for tanning to say, I'm going to lie out and then we'll make the mistake and say, I'm going to lay out. Yeah. And I was going to say, if you want to say, if you need to say it in the past tense, you could dance around it. We've done an episode on this.

You could say something like, I spent a few hours laying out or lying out. Oh my gosh, Aubrey. I would be lying out, but it sounds wrong, right? It sounds wrong.

This is really a mistake that has been adopted into American English. So you're going to hear it wrong more than you hear it right. Yeah, exactly. Anything else we need to know here, Aubrey, before we go to a quick break?

Yeah, let's go ahead and go to the break and then we're going to come back and share a little more vocabulary. All right. Sounds good. All right, Aubrey, we are back from break.

Can we also say tan as a verb, like to tan? Yeah, we do say this as well, right? When we are using it as a verb and we mean that we are intentionally sunbathing or going to those tanning beds in order to darken our skin, we'll say, I'm tanning, right? We'll use it as a verb.

Say, I tan really quickly. Or you'll hear someone say like, oh, I don't burn. I just tan. Right. Just tan. Or as a noun, you can also say your tan looks amazing.

You have a great tan, right? Most people, many people, not most, many at the end of the summer have a great tan, right? Because they've just been outside in one way or another, right? Hiking.

Exactly. If you hear someone say, oh, he looks so tan, they know that he usually has lighter skin and then he's been in the sun. And so his skin has darkened, is more tan. But sometimes we also say, in the United States, we love to work, right?

We love to have projects. And so we say, work on my tan, right? Yes, right. This is a common way to say that you're actively trying to darken your skin, trying to become more tan, right?

Yeah. So you might say, I'm going to work on my tan before summer so I can look good in my bikini, for example. So yeah, this is interesting because it's such a cultural thing. And it also depends on a person's skin color because a lot of people are like,

extremely happy with their skin color as it is like i have a permanently tan skin you know and then other people if they have a lighter skin but they're wanting they think it looks great to have it be more of that bronze shade that tan so yeah and i agree lindsey i think this is sort of a shift in the culture that it's becoming less but you know now people are the trend now is to just love your skin the way it is and have it be healthy Have it be healthy. I mean, every time I go to the dermatologist twice a year for skin checks, living in Colorado, we have a really high rate of skin cancer. You might too in Arizona.

And she always says like the number one thing is good sunscreen, right? That's the number one thing. Anyways, word to the wise. Yeah. Yeah, right. It's so true.

And especially if you burn really easily. I'm sure all of us know someone who has gotten skin cancer. My dad had some skin cancer in his nose. Because we just never would wear sunscreen.

I remember being so burned when I was a kid, we would go to like a water park. And not wear any sunscreen. And we would just be lobsters at the end of the day. It just like so red.

And then it would peel. It was miserable. Oh, same here. I spent so many hours on the tennis court as a young, like in my teenage years and as a kid. And that, I don't know.

I feel like that damage is done. You know, it's hard. And a lot of skiers and snowboarders, like they may have their goggles, but then their nose and cheeks get burned so many times. So a lot of people now are dealing with skin cancer as a result of this tanning culture where we were intentionally laying out in the sun.

It's true. So yeah, like we've said, we're in a shift right now. Tanning's kind of divided. Some people love their tans. Others avoid the sun. Just depends on a lot of things, your personality, how much research do you read, things like that.

Exactly. So what else, Aubrey? What else do we want to know here? This is a conversation our listeners might get into, especially with students from other cultures.

In Open Conversation Club, we connect you with students from different parts of the world. This would be a great topic to get into. Yes. It is really interesting.

And it is something where we want to be aware of, you know, of course, cultural nuances. But also, it's interesting to think about how this is different for people depending on your skin color. right? If you're going to have a conversation with someone from a South American country, someone who is Native American, for example, you're not going to ask them if they lay out if they're going tanning, right?

So there are some sensitivities here. It's interesting, depending on who you're talking to. That's a really important point, Aubrey. I'm glad you said that.

So being super aware of who we're around, who we're talking to, and just what's an appropriate question. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go into a role play here.

Okay. Yeah. Because I think this comes up a lot around vacations, right? That's when we often have the time to sunbathe. For sure. So you and I are friends here and you just returned from vacation.

I'll start us out. Okay. Wow. You look so tan. Did you just get back from vacation? Thanks. Yeah. We spent most of the trip laying out by the pool. I'm jealous.

I wish I could sunbathe, but I just burn immediately. Well, you could always get a fake tan. My friend goes for spray tans every month and it looks pretty natural. It's not a bad idea, but it doesn't come off on your sheets.

I can sometimes, especially if you sweat. Yeah, that would drive me crazy. I'd better not risk it. That makes sense. I usually just work on my tan when traveling, but when I'm home, I sunscreen every day.

Same. I'm always trying to protect my skin. And I've also been using one of those red light masks too. Oh, nice. Does it work? I'm not sure yet. I just started, but it was kind of expensive.

So I hope so. Have you heard about this red light therapy, Lindsay? I haven't tried that. I've heard about it. I haven't tried it. I know some people who have, but it's the next big fad, right?

Yeah. I'm curious. I'm like, I'm going to wait a little while and see how that goes. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Interesting. So very common conversation.

Yeah. You started by saying, wow, you look so tan, right? And that is a compliment. And I want to ask you about this, Lindsay, because I know we've talked recently about not commenting on someone's appearance, but at least in the States.

Yes. Depending on who you're talking to, if it's a friend and you notice that they look visibly more tan, this is probably something I would say. What do you think? Do you feel like this would ever be an inappropriate comment?

I think it's okay. I mean, as long as we're paying attention to someone's natural skin color, right? What you mentioned before, people with darker skin tones, obviously you're not going to say that necessarily. But outside of that, I think it's maybe an exception to the rule that we set up.

And it's, but it's not overly personal, right? It's kind of have separated it from anything about their personality and their appearance. And it's sort of just a way to ask if someone's been in the sun a lot. It's kind of like, it's impersonal because it's like now you're tan and it's a status, a symbol of beauty in American culture, sun kissed.

Right. And so it's less personal. It's like, you've become tan. Okay. You're more beautiful now. Right. Right? Interesting. It is interesting. It's really pointing out, which I hadn't thought about a ton, that at least in the States, we kind of have this standard of beauty that darker skin, more tan skin is more beautiful, is more appealing, is more desirable.

For sure. Or at least it has been. Traditionally, it has been that way, right? Yeah. But I'm glad I've had some conversations with my teenagers about this because they don't really care.

They're not as into sunbathing. And I'm glad to see the generation coming up isn't really feeling that way as much anymore. And they're putting so much more of a value on loving their skin color, whatever that is, and not aspiring to change it. Right.

That's really good to know. I mean, that's how you know it is changing. I guess historically, from what I've heard anecdotally, it was more like people felt like if you're the darker, if you had a tan, you are out working with your hand, like you were out, right? Doing hard labor.

You're out in the sun. It looks healthy. Right. But it was considered negative because you were doing hard labor physically in the sun. Like historically, way back in the day, like in the 1800s or something, for example.

This is what I've always learned in the past. And women would wear gloves to keep their hands light. As a status of the upper class, right? Because you didn't have to work with your hands or your body.

But then it flipped in the mid-century. Fascinating how that shifted. Yeah. And maybe it's flipping back again. Oh, my gosh. Interesting. Fascinating.

Yeah. But just to finish this, because we went through that we kind of stopped the role play. This is interesting, too, that you mentioned a fake tan, which we didn't really cover that. But like when you were saying you would go to those tanning beds, and there's a lot of lotions and like spray tans, and we'll call that a fake tan, if you're not getting it from actually being out in the sun.

Right. I personally think they always kind of look fake, but I don't really love like fake stuff that much, but maybe there are some that look orange sometimes. I don't know. Yeah.

I kind of think so. And then I said, that makes sense. I usually just work on my tan when traveling, right? Yeah. That would mean you're like intentionally lying in the sun, trying to soak up some rays, right?

Working on our tan. It is funny to talk about it as if we're working at something. Yeah. It's weird. So American. And then you said I've been using one of these red light masks too.

And that's just a new trendy thing. So keep your eyes out for research on that, guys. Interesting. Interesting. Yes. Oh, this is fascinating. It's so cultural.

And there's really a lot here. And it is changing, I think. It's interesting to be noticing how the newer generations are thinking differently about this than we did in the 90s. Really interesting.

Guys, go over to All There's English 2618. Should you call a man sassy? Gendered words in English. Really interesting. Interesting topic there. That was interesting.

Go check it out. Yeah, good stuff. And open a conversation. I mean, I think one of the connection takeaways for today is open a conversation with another classmate or colleague from another country and see what is the vibe in their country.

Like what is popular? What's considered beautiful? This can be so different around the world. Yes, I love that. And just even that to stay open-minded about the fact that not everyone's going to think about this the same way you do.

This is definitely something we want to be thinking about other perspectives and how this would be different for people around the world and of different nationalities. Love it. Good stuff today, Aubrey. I will not be working on my tan after this episode, but you have a good rest of your day.

Stay inside. Stay in the shade. Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. I'll see you next time. Take care. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English. Would you like to know your English level?

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