It's Just Tan Stewie Being Tan Stewie

As nice weather finally finds Boston College, the sight of students sprawled out across any sunny patch of grass they can find becomes much more familiar. Some men sunbathe shirtless while many female students wear bikinis. This sun worshiping ritual of the scantily clad provides them with an additional benefit besides the warm, euphoria inducing sensation of the sun’s rays dancing upon skin that has finally emerged from a long, sunless winter of concealment. That benefit: a tan.
Why do people risk damage to their skin from the sun’s dangerous rays or from a confining UV tanning booth? Because society tells them that tan means beautiful. According to the impression management theory (Leary et al., 1997) people often engage in risky behaviors in the name of impression management, or self-presentation. Tanning is a great example of this because more dangerous methods of getting a tan are becoming more common and acceptable. Tanning salons are more popular than ever and more and more young people (sorry girls, most tanning clients are female) are using them. Tanning salon members have to sign a disclaimer when they first use the facility, some parents even sign for their underage daughters. Tanning pills which are illegal for sale in the U.S. can support the body’s production of melanin or manipulate pigment. Both types of tanning pills are extremely dangerous and outlawed by the FDA.
Despite the clear dangers of this kind of behavior, men and women across the U.S. continue to harm their bodies in the name of self-presentation. With images of beautiful bronzed bodies sporting year-round tans all over TV, in magazines and on billboards, young people are constantly reminded of the benefits of a tan self-presentation and so they continue to engage in risky behavior. The dilemma of tanning is a prime example of the power of impression management. Despite known consequences, the benefits of beauty and self-presentation have a powerful allure that promotes risky behavior among those seeking beauty and social acceptance.
Below is the URL for a 2005 article from an online female health magazine that chronicles the different dangers and methods of tanning:

http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/tanning_safely.shtml