Why Don't I Tan Anymore?

With the sudden onset of unseasonably warm weather this past week I found myself lounging outside for the majority of my weekend and contemplating laying out and getting a nice base tan for the beginning of spring. On Sunday when the high was in the low 80s I had a sudden realization. I went inside to take a look at one of my baby pictures (or child pictures since I was probably 8 or something)  in which I'm sporting a purple one piece and giant Scuba Steve goggles and I realized... back in the day I got hella tan. In the summers I would become magically dark and my hair turned bright, bright blonde and remembering this made me, actually, kind of upset. I was like, "What the heck Mother Nature? I grow up and you decide, 'let's make her skin paler and her hair darker!'" As a little girl I didn't care if I was tan or not and it didn't matter how blonde my hair was, but now that I'm 17 everyone wants a perfect summer glow and I have to pay to touch up my natural(ly faded) color. Why?!? It's unfair. It's a vain pursuit... but it's unfair! The end.