This Ted Talk transcript explores the dangers of the sun and how our society has been conditioned to believe that tan skin is beautiful and pale skin is unacceptable. Inspired by close experience, this is a Ted talk full of passion.
Full Description:
This Ted talk was an assignment that was created to prepare for the AST writing task. We had to “select and research a contemporary issue and create an engaging, well-reasoned and persuasive response in which you communicate your perspective on the chosen issue”. For me, skin cancer and the lack of education surrounding the dangers of the sun is something that I’m extremely passionate about. My Mum has had roughly 50-60 BCC’S cut out of her. She’s undergone many painful surgeries to remove them. As such, she’s been a huge promoter of sunscreen and properly protecting yourself against the sun. It makes me really upset about how undereducated large amounts of the population are regarding the dangers of the sun. Additionally, so many people in society have been conditioned to believe that having pale skin is unappealing and that they need to tan to be beautiful. If we broke this stigma, then majority of the issues stemming from the dangers of the sun would be erased. I wrote this piece both for the purpose of assessment, but also because it’s something I’m extremely passionate about. I hope that by writing more pieces like this, Australians, and people all over the world will protect themselves against such as preventable cancer.
Photo Bibliography: Woman's sunburnt shoulder and ocean n.d., Photograph, Getty Images, viewed 10 October 2022, https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/beauty/skin/a703026/skin-keeps-burning-for-hours-after-sun-exposure-and-other-news/
