Who Loves the Sun?

Last week the New York Times ran an article on the front page of the Style section (the part of the paper bringing us “the latest news on style, fasion, the internet, love, gender, beauty, self-care, weddings and social change”) entitled, “How to Get Absolutely No Sun This Summer.”

The article was accompanied by a list of high-ticket fashion items readers can purchase to accomplish the goal of sun-free living. Suggested products include a sunblocking cloth mask reminiscent of the highly fashionable but medically useless designer masks promoted by the New York Times three years ago to signify our allegience to the health fads of that time.

The sunblocking mask looks just like a Covid-era cloth mask, with one small difference: the mask has a breathing hole positioned over the nose. The forces who sold Covid fear are now selling fear of the sun. They humorously mock the old masks while promoting the new, “For when you got used to wearing masks incorrectly, with your nose exposed, and you want to recreate that experience but still be protected from the sun.”

While I would love to digress into a tirade about cloth masking and the irony of those who not long ago insisted that anyone complaining about feeling suffocated by a face mask was a whiny grandma killer now selling us masks with breathing holes to protect us from the current terror du jour, I will restrain myself. Instead I will focus on the new trendy thing to fear.

The sun.

For all of human history, up until our current insane moment, sunshine was synonymous with happines. A sunny day meant a bright and cheerful setting, and not just metaphorically. As the New York Times acknowledges, our ancestors adored the sun.

These ancient pro-sun beliefs persisted through the 20th century. We know this from numerous cultural relics left behind, like the Beatles’ song “Here Comes the Sun” which clearly implies the sun is a force of good in the world, and Little Orphan Annie telling us not to despair becase the sun will come out tomorrow.

But the march of scientific progress has freed us from the belief that sunshine makes us feel good. Only science-deniers still enjoy “unprotected” exposure to sunlight.

You may have noticed that you personally feel better after some time in the sun. Your appetite is lower, your mood is brighter, you feel more optimistic. But if we’ve learned one thing over the past three years it’s that we can’t trust our own assessments about our bodies and health and wellness. We can only trust The Science.

So forget what your instincts and senses tell you. Medical experts and trendsetters agree that the sun makes you look old and ugly and gives you cancer.

According to the people selling us sun protective products, there is no such thing as safe sun exposure. We are instructed by the New York Times Style section to apply sun screen not just every day, but every two hours! Every time you step outside of a building you should be wearing freshly applied sunscreen “across every exposed bit of skin, including your hands and the tips of your ears.”

Like most white Gen X-ers, I’m old enough to remember recreational sun-tanning. Sure, lifeguards who sat in the sun all day wore coats of zinc oxide over their noses and shoulders, but generally speaking sunscreen was not on our radar. Instead of sun-blocking potions, we slathered ourselves in baby oil or olive oil in an effort to enhance the tanning effects of the sun. We laid out! For hours.

I know that correlation does not imply causation, but back when we were free to openly worship the sun, before medical and state authorities drove the practice underground, I remember the population being happier, healthier, and thinner.

Maybe this is because exposure to direct sunlight makes you happier, healthier, and thinner.

The less sun exposure we get, the more sick and miserable we become. Even the National Institutes of Health agree. Excessive sun exposure accounts for 0.1% of the global disease burden, while inadequate sun exposure is responsible for up to 2.3% of the global disease burden.

Sunscreen itself may be making us sick and fat and miserable. Nearly all commercial sunscreens contain parabens and artificial fragrances, both of which disrupt the functions of the endocrine system.

We hear a lot about “endocrine disruption,” but what does endocrine disruption look like? Well, the next time you go shopping, or to church, or to your high school reunion, look around. That’s what endocrine disruption looks like: widespread overweight and obesity, thyroid disorders, abnormal secondary sex characteristics (i.e. man boobs), depression, fatigue. Everywhere I look lately, I see endocrine derangement.

Sunscreen is not the only source of endocrine disrupting chemicals. It’s not even the only one we are told is good for our health. But applying a known source of endocrine disruptors to “every exposed bit of skin” every day, let alone the recommended every two hours, certainly adds up.

But what about cancer? Do I want everyone to get melanoma and die? No, of course not. My red-headed Irish mother died of melanoma when I was just out of high school. I don’t want anyone to get melanoma. And I certainly don’t want anyone to die from it (which is why I am so thankful for the medical breakthroughs in cancer treatment that have made melanoma a largely curable disease).

The biggest known risk factor for melanoma is one or more blistering sunburns in childhood. The second biggest risk is the use of tanning beds. These risks can be avoided through judicious sun exposure and avoidance of tanning beds. No sunscreen required.

Known risks aside, most melanomas occur in people without risk factors and most melanomas occur on areas of the body that receive very little sunlight. Studies show that continued sun bathing actually reduces the risk of dying from melanoma in people already diagnosed with the disease. Daily or near-daily exposure to sunlight decreases the risk of melanoma.

Like many people who lost a parent to cancer early in life, I’m a hypochondriac. I’ve been known to mentally check myself into hospice after finding a blob of chocolate on my skin that I was briefly sure was a melanoma.

How did I first find out that sunscreen does not prevent melanoma? From my long-suffering dermatologist who deals with my health anxiety every time I find a new freckle. I was shocked the first time he told me that there is no medical consensus that sunscreen lowers melanoma risk. According to the Cochrane Review, the bible of evidence-based medical practice, there is no solid evidence that sunscreen prevents squamous or basal cell skin cancers either.

After admitting that wearing sunscreen would not decrease my hypochondria OR my actual risk of skin cancer, my doctor told me I should still wear sunscreen every day. Otherwise I risk looking old and ugly.