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To Die For: The Semiotic Seductive Power of the Tanned Body
Author(s) -
Vannini Phillip,
McCright Aaron M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.2004.27.3.309
Subject(s) - semiotics , embodied cognition , meaning (existential) , sign (mathematics) , aesthetics , interpretation (philosophy) , power (physics) , order (exchange) , art , psychology , philosophy , epistemology , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , finance , economics
Human skin burns with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light. This simple physiological process acquires meaning through social interaction—whereby tanned skin assumes symbolic and semiotic properties. In this article we examine the meanings of tanned skin by focusing on the semiotic seductive power of the tanned body. Drawing from forty qualititative interviews, we examine the motives, beliefs, and experiences of people who tan their skin artificially, that is, through exposure to tanning lamps, in order to understand how tanned skin assumes meaning for them. We analyze the practice of artificial tanning and the interplay among processes of seduction, impression management, self‐expression, and the construction, exchange, and interpretation of embodied sign‐values.