Pale Skin - Is it really that bad?

Scandinavia
Scandinavia Posts: 291 Member
in Chit-Chat
I would just like to throw this out there - I get a lot of hate for being pale. A /lot/ of people say "Oh, you look so pretty, but a tan would make you look amazing." No, it won't. I'm from Scottish and Norwegian blood, with red hair, and I like being pale. Stop telling me to tan. I wouldn't tell someone from Hispanic or African, or even 'darker' places in Europe like Italy and Greece, to bleach their skin to get paler, so why tell me to tan? I, personally, find pale skin beautiful on /me/. That doesn't mean I'm racist. It doesn't mean I don't find tanner skin ugly. I just don't think it looks the best on me.

So please, those of you who make fun of people who are paler than normal, don't tell us we look 'unhealthy' or that we should 'get some sun' or, even in some cases, that we're 'ugly'. Just because it isn't the standard of beauty in most places in the Americas and Europe, doesn't mean that we are any less attractive than you are.

Anyway, where do people of MFP fall on the spectrum? Do you think being pale truly is bad, or just different?
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Replies

  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    I'm Scottish on my mom's side, Irish on my dad's. I have very fair skin and ended up having several basal cell carcinoma spots on my face because of all the tanning I did in my 20's. Embrace your paleness and don't worry about what anyone thinks!
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,450 Member
    Pale red heads unite!!
  • jadesign19
    jadesign19 Posts: 512 Member
    I just tell them I'm proud to be a white girl! That usually stops them.
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
    I'm there with you, just i have blonde hair...I get called snow white(even though she had black hair?) vampire, albino....and i serve at a restaurant and my table asked if i ever got out into the sun....I like myself pale, but i started tanning and i feel better since now i can wear the bright colors and not looks super washed out. I'm irish and scottish on my dad's side, and my mom is lebanese, czech and german. My brother and sister all ended up with dark hair and dark eyes and olivier skin, while i ended up the white sheep of my family
  • dumb_blondes_rock
    dumb_blondes_rock Posts: 1,568 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.

    There are some day-walkers(red heads that can go out in the sun for more than 10 minutes) that don't have the freckles and super sensitive skin....but MOST do. And you dont' want to look like lindsay lohan orange by getting a spray tan either
  • kschr201
    kschr201 Posts: 208 Member
    Getting called snow white by my family I totally relate...I'm fine with my pale skin - I love it. Plus I would just turn into a blob of freckle anyways.

    Everyone's always like "but your hair is almost black? shouldn't you be tanner?" It's not just blondes and redheads who are pale. Everyone's BEAUTIFUL.
  • Eve23
    Eve23 Posts: 2,352 Member
    I am not as pale as some in my family. But its better not to tan. A tan red head is a tomato or a freckle.
  • lukeout007
    lukeout007 Posts: 1,237 Member
    My wife is very pale. I am too and now her and I are probably equally as pale...but when we met she was white...I mean pushing paper white...She also had black hair and kinda had a snow white thing going on...I dug it...still do. Hoping that she'll dye her hair black again eventually...While some people look terrible being that pale with black hair...it really worked for her.
  • kateanne27
    kateanne27 Posts: 275 Member
    After my grandfather died from malignant skin cancer both my mom and grandmother had to have parts of their faces removed due to skin cancer, I stay in the shade and gob on the sunscreen. My husband doesn't want to bother with sunscreen and my sister tans and I hate worrying about their futures.
  • Lizlicious2187
    Lizlicious2187 Posts: 178 Member
    When I was in high school I lived in florida so i was super self-conscious about being pale but as I've gotten older I enjoy my pale skin & my freckles. Of course I've had friends joke and call me a vampire or ghost but it was on in good fun so I don't take it personally. I still feel self-conscious about it sometimes at the beach or something but I think getting older and also improving my fitness and health has helped improve my confidence a lot and not worry about it so much!
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    This is what happens when my ginger sister spends a few hours outside..

    Warped Tour.

    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3880586504505&set=a.2125798795909.2111366.1574094901&type=1&theater
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.

    This! I can't tan anymore even if I wanted to, I just get more freckles, and I'm not going to risk skin cancer by going out to bake, or worse, going to a tanning bed. Anyway, lots of guys like pale skin, I'm happy to say!
  • Behavior_Modification
    Behavior_Modification Posts: 24,482 Member
    I'm pale. I don't tan well. I burn. I don't like the sun. Heat drains me of energy.

    Why should I get a tan? Sure, I'll agree tan fat is better looking than pale fat - but that's all you got. :tongue:

    I've come to like my pale skin. It reminds me of innocence, purity, royalty. Some people think pale is really pretty. Think of a china doll. They're very pale - but beautiful. In some countries, they consider those with the fairest skin to be the most desired.

    I might be singing a different tune had I grown up thinner. But as a result of morbid obesity, I have avoided being 1/2 clothed in the outdoors. And as a result of avoiding the sun, my skin has remained virtually wrinkle free. I'd like to keep it that way. I want to continue to look young as I age.
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
    I'm super pale and would never go tanning. Not sure it would work anyway -- I don't tan, I don't burn, I don't do anything but stay pale. I will admit to trying some fake tanner before after feeling pressured by my friends who told me I would be prettier that way. Nuh-uh. No good. I looked like an oompa loompa.
  • ScottyNoHotty
    ScottyNoHotty Posts: 1,957 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.

    Thats because you suffer from gingervitis
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
    No!

    A hot girl is a hot girl.
  • mycrazy8splus1
    mycrazy8splus1 Posts: 1,558 Member
    My dad is dark (Native American) and never wore sunscreen....he now has stage 4 melanoma. I married a pale,blonde haired, blue eyed guy and my kids mostly take after him. One of my boys is very dark (looks like my dad). My children are all beautiful...the pale ones, the dark ones. There is nothing wrong with pale!!!

    message from my dad: DO NOT TAN!!!!!
  • mommy2AR
    mommy2AR Posts: 2,796 Member
    Well I am pale...and a tad freckly....I dont go tanning and refuse to...lol I moisturize like crazy and I really think it keeps me looking young :) I think its best to go with what you have and work it ;)
  • PicNic00
    PicNic00 Posts: 269 Member
    Pale and proud. I don't want to look 50 when I'm 30. I stay out of the sun when I can, but when I can't I wear protection.
  • LauraMacNCheese
    LauraMacNCheese Posts: 7,173 Member
    There are 2 places on my body that actually tan...my neck line & my left arm...other than that, I border on vampire-white; I fry, turning lobster red, peel & then revert back to my vampiric state.

    I'm ok with this...I don't want skin the same color & texture as a leather bus seat...
  • marie_2454
    marie_2454 Posts: 881 Member
    I'm like you, but my hair is more blonde with a little red tint. My sister though looks Native American, and my little brother goes outside and has a great tan in 15 minutes. I just laugh and say I got all my family's recessive genes. I would look ridiculous if I was as dark as my sister or brother, but I do plan on going tanning (mainly to help balance out my tan lines on my shoulders). The last year or so I've bought the lightest shade of foundation and had it be too dark at least 2 times, which is really irritating! I don't think there's anything wrong with being pale :smile:
  • clydethecat
    clydethecat Posts: 1,087 Member
    i'm pale pink, ten minutes in the sun and i'm red. i like being pale, i hope i dont get skin cancer from all the times i got a really bad sun burn. every summer we would go to a lake to go camping. every year i would get a bad sun burn, my nose has been blistered at least 10 times. that was all when i was 12 and under.

    since i was in my teens i do not leave the house without sun screen on my face and all exposed body parts. couldnt care less about what other people think of my skin.
  • angiejo666
    angiejo666 Posts: 11
    Growing up a redhead in Southern CA surrounded by a heaping load of tan blondes made my youth a bit trying, but I have grown to love my red hair and pale skin. Do I glow in the dark? Sometimes...but it makes it that much easier for my hubby to find me. :blushing: Will my skin dry up and age me 20 years? Nope! I am pale and happy!! Be proud!!!!

    It amazes me that with all we know about excessive sun exposure...people still go out unprotected and fry themselves all in the name of "beauty." It also amazes me that adults in the workplace will raz me about my skin tone...kids on a playground I get...adults at work...really???
  • scapez
    scapez Posts: 2,018 Member
    I'm not pale, but can't see why anyone should find issue with it. We come in all sorts of colors and should love the color we were born with!
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    I tan REALLY easily, even though I always wear sunscreen and am really cautious and protective of my skin. People usually think I'm Hispanic because I'm so dark (I am white, yes, I promise, English, French, and German), and I'm actually envious of my much fairer skinned mother. For a really dumb reason too lol...I LOVE playing with hair colors, but when you're really tan, you're kind of limited in that department. I've always wanted to try blonde hair or going ginger, but I would look SO dumb!

    So embrace your creamy, fair skin, especially you redheads who I'm so jealous of!
  • _GingerSnap_
    _GingerSnap_ Posts: 339 Member
    we gingers do NOT look good with a tan. sun can kill us if we use it long enough to "tan" - and by that i mean our freckles merge. and fake-and-bake looks TERRIBLE with our hair/eyes. we gingers are meant to be a pale ppl.

    Word. Ginger and proud!
  • Jellyphant
    Jellyphant Posts: 1,400 Member
    I think pale is absolutely gorgeous. I've always secretly wished to be red headed, pale skinned and blue eyed. I'm naturally tan soooo.. no hope there.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    pale skin IS SO MUCH BETTER than people who look like they just rolled in doritos.

    monitor tans for life.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
    I hate the whole "tan is healthy!" mentality. There is way too much skin cancer in my family for me to think that tan is healthy. I will stay pale, thankyouverymuch. I will douse myself in sunscreen if I'm going out for longer than ten minutes, and I will do the same to my children. I can't force my husband to do the same, as much I would like to, and because he's of Mediterranean descent, he seems to think that he's immune to skin cancer. Frustrating as hell.

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