The Taiwanese are deathly afraid of the sun. Not because it can cause skin cancer, although they certainly acknowledge this—no, they are more afraid of getting a tan.
For some reason, people outside of Western societies think that the paler you are, the prettier you are. Someone here theorized that this was because historically, if you were lower class, you worked outside and ended up quite brown as a result. Pale skin meant that you were high class—you didn’t have to work in the sun. In Western culture, though, the darker your skin, the more attractive you are (which, of course, makes just as much sense as equating pale skin with beauty).
Taiwanese women in particular go to great lengths to shield themselves from the sun’s skin-darkening rays. Keep in mind that the main method of transportation here is scooters, which necessarily involves being exposed to the sun. I have seen a variety of interesting things on the road that women do in order to avoid getting tan. They wear jeans a lot, which is death in this heat. They also take light sweaters or jackets and wear them backwards over their arms so their extremities aren’t touched by the sun. By far the best innovation, though, are the oven mitts over the handles. They’re not real oven mitts, mind, but that’s certainly what they look like. They’re these big, padded, glove-like handlebar protrusions; you can put your hands in or take them out just as you like, since they are attached to the scooter, not to you. It took me quite a while to discover their true purpose, but as it turns out, the whole point is to protect your hands from the sun.
Pedestrians are also fans of keeping themselves out of the sun. No matter where you go, if the sun is out, you will see women wandering around with open umbrellas to keep the sun off their face.
Now, I have no objection to people protecting themselves from the sun. Particularly if you’re looking to prevent skin cancer, it’s a healthy lifestyle choice. Some people take it a little far, however. One our last day in Kenting, we rented a beach umbrella (complete with table and chairs) from a woman who might as well have been wearing a burka. Not only was she wearing full pants and long sleeves in this unbelievable heat, but she also had extra sleeves pulled up over her arms, a face mask, a hat, and just in case, she was carrying an umbrella. You could only see her eyes.
I suppose this just goes to show that I now live in a heliophobic nation!
3 comments:
I thought the oven mitts were for when it gets cold(er) and rainy.
Sounds like you're having a good time!
I think in our culture it's gone from "Pale means you are wealthy and don't have to work outside" to "Tanned means you are wealthy and have plenty of leisure time to sit around in the sun/tanning beds."
In a different environment, I would say using the oven mitts to keep your hands warm and dry would be a valid hypothesis. However, anyone who feels the least bit cold in Kaohsiung is clearly unbalanced. On top of that, it rains exceedingly rarely, yet the oven mitts are present at all times.
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