Pet Peeve #4: Tanorexics

Tanorexia Nervosa is a mental illness similar to anorexia nervosa. Like anorexics, who feel that they are fat-- even though they usually aren't-- Tanorexics tend to feel that they are unattractive if they do not alter their skin tone/colour by: a) spending time in the sun; b) abusing self-tanning creams and sprays, or c) sleeping on tanning beds until their skin crisps like 7-day old fried bacon.

I enjoy a nice bronze skin tone. I, for one, do not think much about tanning, but I do like to see other people with a nice healthy, sunny glow to their skin. That being said, there is a fine line between looking like you just got back from vacation and appearing to have switched ethinic backgrounds overnight!

I'm not sure if this is a trend or what but I have noticed so many people-- walking around the city and gracing the cover of celeb magazines-- looking like oompa-loompas who just finished stirring Willy Wonka's chocolate river. Why would anyone think this looks attractive? Their hair is bleached blond and their skin is as orange as the filling of Grandma's sweet potato pie. Their skin is wrinkled beyond belief-- causing them to buy unlimited supplies of Oil of Olay rejuvenation creams-- and yet, they persist.

Being a Black woman, I find this obsession very comical. I'm very proud of my skin tone, but I'm very aware of some of the drawbacks of having it. Sometimes I walk into a convenience store and I'm followed. Or, the old woman walking in front of me on a residential street may quicken her step and hold her bag closer to her body once she realizes that I'm right behind her. So forgive me if I LOL when people roast themselves beyond the point of recognition and go and get their hair braided into cornrows whilst on vacation to look like a "native", but would never ever consider actually being treated like one.