Post by lilafowler on Jun 28, 2010 11:05:09 GMT -5
Sunbathing (with or without the intention of tanning) pops up pretty regularly in any BSC book set anywhere near a patch of sand. Ann M. Martin and I are both daughters of the Jersey Shore, and even though I am typing this from under the fluorescent lights of a library rather than our closest star, I know she is my sister in at least two of gym, tanning, and laundry. As a brown person, the obsession with tanning (not just in the BSC books!) has always been peculiar and amusing to me. I think sunblock and sunscreen are given token mentions in the books, but a tan is usually hailed as an improvement on the girls' looks, if not a goal of being out in the sun. From Stacey's Lie:
When I read the beach books now, I have trouble imagining Mallory with a tan since she seems so much more likely to burn. Maybe she is Lindsay Lohan's inspiration for Sevin Nyne. I just KNOW there is a thread somewhere on this board where someone mentioned that if the books were written today, the BSC's obsession with tanning would probably be dropped for anti-skin cancer preaching, which reminds me of this gem from Snail Mail No More, the second book Ann wrote with Paula Danziger:
With all of the things from her own life that Ann shoves (with varying levels of grace) into her books, I get that it is truly sad that AMM was probably imagining herself and Paula in those rocking chairs, and that's not going to happen. But OH MY GOD, lady, REALLY? The first thing I thought was that Ann herself probably sees a lot of people of color, assumes they look that way because they tan, and pities them for their inevitable skin cancer. Then I realized that she sounds like one of those people who tells smokers how unhealthy cigarettes are (because, you know, they obviously didn't know already).
Even with the number fifteen sun block I usually wore, I’d gotten a light golden tan. I love the way I look with a tan. It makes my eyes bluer and gives me a wonderful glow.
When I read the beach books now, I have trouble imagining Mallory with a tan since she seems so much more likely to burn. Maybe she is Lindsay Lohan's inspiration for Sevin Nyne. I just KNOW there is a thread somewhere on this board where someone mentioned that if the books were written today, the BSC's obsession with tanning would probably be dropped for anti-skin cancer preaching, which reminds me of this gem from Snail Mail No More, the second book Ann wrote with Paula Danziger:
Tara, you should really be more careful with the sun. Did you know that just a few bad sunburns can lead to SKIN CANCER? I’m not kidding. Mom and Emma and I never get sunburns anymore. I slather Emma and myself with waterproof sun block every day of the summer, whether we’re going to the pool or not. (Well, I don’t put it on us on a day like today.) And at the pool we always wear hats and big, long T-shirts except for when we go in the water. We may appear a little pasty by the end of the summer, but I don’t care. I can’t help but look at really tanned people and think, ‘Someday they’re probably going to get skin cancer.’ I don’t want to scare you, but be more careful—at least for my sake. I want us to be friends for ever and ever, even when we’re ninety and doddering in rocking chairs on a front porch somewhere.
With all of the things from her own life that Ann shoves (with varying levels of grace) into her books, I get that it is truly sad that AMM was probably imagining herself and Paula in those rocking chairs, and that's not going to happen. But OH MY GOD, lady, REALLY? The first thing I thought was that Ann herself probably sees a lot of people of color, assumes they look that way because they tan, and pities them for their inevitable skin cancer. Then I realized that she sounds like one of those people who tells smokers how unhealthy cigarettes are (because, you know, they obviously didn't know already).
