How come all East Asian people can tan but most Caucasian people can't?

Question

Most East Asian people were born with light skin. Most Caucasian people were born with light skin. So how come all East Asian people can tan? But most Caucasian people burn. I don't understand why. I thought people with light skin would burn instead of tanning. And people with naturally dark skin will tan easily.

I said MOST Caucasian people can't tan which means that a few of them can tan.

So...how come all East Asian people can tan?

Answer 1

I think if you asked most Caucasians whether or not they wanted a tan they would say not. Hollywood actors like tans I guess because it makes it look like they have a lot of leisure time but lighter skin always looks better! Just look at Paris Hilton. She is a celebrity and doesn't need a silly tan to look beautiful.

Answer 2

Has to do with genetics and the life of our ancestors that affects the pigment in our skin and it's ability to tan. Since Caucasian ancestors generally lived in chilly climates and their bare skin got less direct sunlight, it had no need to gain a tan for protection from the sun. And until we 'evolve' the ability, we are stuck with little tanning.

I can tan a little, but it's a pretty slow process. By the end of summer I usually have clear sandal lines on my feet, but it's not a dark tan.

Answer 3

I'm from East Asia and some of my family members are light skinned, some dark skinned. But most of us don't burn, not even the light skinned ones. We also don't need deoderant because genetically, our bodies do not have the sweat glands that produce the odor causing bacteria. Many people think it's diet, but it is actually a genetic factor. Same with the tanning. We have more melanin that protects us from the sun and our bodies produce the melanin that white people don't carry. If you tested the genome of people from all over East Asia, many have ancestors from regions that are warmer and sunnier. The term is "light skinned Asian" and not "white" btw. Because White is not just a skin color, but a racial classification and Asian people are not white.

Answer 4

East Asians are mostly white. They're not Caucasian, but they're certainly white. There are only 2 groups of white people on Earth... Europeans & East Asians... gotta stick together. lol

Answer 5

Mexicans, Italians, Greeks, and Spanish usually tan without burning and they are Caucasian. Some Mexicans have American Indian (Asian) ancestry but a lot of them were Spanish (European) that immigrated to Mexico in the eighteenth century and they tan well. I myself don't need a tan and don't want a tan.

Answer 6

It's called melanin which Asian, African, and other people who originate from tropical/extremely sunny, hot climates possess in their skin. This helps them to keep from burning in the sun. C Caucasians can't tan because they aren't designed to.

Answer 7

That's not true, most white people can tan. it's only the ones with very light skin that get freckles or burn.

Answer 8

Different amounts of eumelanin (the type that makes people brown when they tan.) Many Caucasian people don't have as many melanocytes as a whole, either.

Answer 9

What are you trying to say? Would you actually want a tan? It is certainly genetics but why would you even want a tan?

Answer 10

You have got to be kidding here. I am Caucasian and wouldn't even want a tan if I could get one. That's ugly and it makes your skin old and rough.