Tanning Beds

Gentlemen, you needn't be card-carrying Chippendales to indulge your craving for that rich, copper tone. Contrary to popular belief, the gatekeepers at your neighborhood tanning salon do not require you to produce your pro wrestling persona or bodybuilding trunks before granting admission to the hallowed halls of tanning beds.

A promising ratio
Indeed, Looking Fit magazine claims that of all the Americans in tanning beds, a surprising 30 percent bring their Y chromosomes with them. That's nearly one in three, surely a statistic that constitutes safety in numbers, not to mention a favorable ratio for any lads looking to land a date with a bronzed beauty of the opposite sex.

Tall, dark, and handsomely rich
The proliferation of tanning beds in the U.S. is testament to our culture's preference of tanned or dark skin over the pallid end of the dermal spectrum. Yet the standards for male beauty were rather different just over a century ago:

• During the Victorian period, milky white skin was associated with gentlemanly status, implying education and refinement.
• Tanned skin betrayed a livelihood of manual labor, which was synonymous with the low and middle classes.
• Those with hours to while and money to spend generously applied white powder to their countenances and zealously avoided direct sunlight, a practice in direct opposition to today's oil-slathering, tanning bed culture.

The Bronze Age
In an interesting twist, a tan today implies everything pastiness did back then. A healthy tan, particularly an off-season one, suggests travel to warm climates, something afforded to society's most successful. Rather than an unfavorable association with manual labor, the modern tan evokes thoughts of outdoor sports and adventure; it has become synonymous with fitness. And whether these distinguished tans are acquired in tanning beds or in Tobago, the favorable perception remains the same.

Get in line
Fret no more, dear gentlemen. Be not afraid to slap a pair of those silly goggles on the counter of a tanning bed outfit near you and inquire about monthly rates. Not only is lining up for a turn in a tanning bed no longer unmanly, a healthy tan is a standard of male beauty that's here to stay. It's a beauty secret to which the Chippendales have been privy for quite some time.