She was baked alive!-Eng 200 Entry

To be beautiful these days you must be put together, hair just right, make-up all set into place, tall, a "good figure", and mostly TAN.

From the article I read, Scary! The Beauty habit that can give you caner, new research shows that using tanning beds is more dangerous than anyone thought.

Let me just re-cap the first couple of sentences for you.

"A 23-year-old...been hitting a tanning bed four or five times a month for seven years. And she has no plans to give it up, despite hearing about a 2009 report confirming that using the beds before the age of 30 may increase your risk of melanoma by 75 percent. "The health warnings don't scare me," she said," I don't overdo it. For me, its just like going to the gym, using make-up or buying a new outfit- it makes me feel and look good."

How sad it is that we have to object ourselves to dangerous and live shorting UV rays to be able to "feel and look good" in our own eyes.

I am far from a tall, "good figured", tan women. I'm average height, curvy, and pale. Sure in the summer time I'll wear tank tops to get some sun on my arms. Or while at the beach I'll lay out. But sunscreen is on my skin as well.

In the article a false statement was made my a salon owner, stating that tanning beds were safer than being in the actual sun, because they had "safe" UVA rays.

"In fact, your risk for burning may be higher at a salon than outdoors, The rays are the same, but UV beds emit more intense radiation than sunlight. That's why tanning beds sessions are short--because they can damage your skin faster than being in natural light."

With this statement right here, why would I ever want to be in a tanning bed!!!

I honestly do not understand some peoples obsession with tanning. I will admit that I once went to a tanning bed for a "base tan" before a trip. But now reading the article, that did nothing for me, but heighten my risk for cancer.

I know someone who has had at least two spots removed for the chance they may have been cancerous. And yet she still goes to the tanning bed to this day. I saw the stitches on her stomach...she went to the tanning bed with the stitches still.

Or another girl, who's Grandmother has had 3 different spots removed, and the Grandmother tells her the risks, and how she shouldn't and how this is what she has to go thought. The girl still continues to go.

Sure, I understand that tanning may feel good, during the winter, and yeah, coffee colored skin would probably look great against some of my clothes. But its just not worth it.

One of the most common statements from girls and women about why they still go to the bed, after all the danger.

"It Can't Happen to Me"

I don't think I could say it any better than the way this article ended with,

"If you're still using tanning beds, you have to ask yourself: Is it worth the risk?"