Why do white women hate their fair skin?

[epari]

Okay so I'm a white woman myself. Ever since I was in school, which was 99 percent white, all I got was

"Milk bottle legs"

"Put some fake tan on"

"Get on the sunned"

I thought it was so confusing considering these girls were the same skin tone as me underneath their makeup etc.

I just never got it, and when I would ask the question all I got was "life's better with a tan, everyone looks better bla bla bla"

But if I'm completely honest, fake tan looks fake, it's so obvious however much you convince yourself it's not, and ironically since I married into a Middle Eastern family, my husband constantly praises how he loves my fair skin and told me fake tan looks disgusting bla bla bla.

So I actually want to know, why is it the majority of British girls and American etc hate their own skin tone?

I just think golden skin looks nicer than very white & it does tend to hide blemishes. Having said that I don't think a leathery deep tan is attractive

Lessstressedhemum yes she has the Fenty one, like you say it's literally the only one where she doesn't look clownish.

I don't. I love my fair skin and my freckles. The media tells us to hate it. Just like they tell black women to hate their skin. You can't win but that's the point. Not winning = product sales.

I have had loads of negative comments on my skin, especially when I was younger.
"Uuugh your legs are too white!" Imagine telling someone black their skin is too black. You wouldn't do it. (I imagine black women probably get negative comments too though)

This pic sums it up I think.

I'm fair skinned and I like my colouring. I never fake tan or sunbathe. I definitely agree it's all about the beauty industry making you feel "less than", when in reality there's nothing wrong with any colour skin!

I'm pale and I don't hate it

You do realise that your husband is just (Ina round about way) saying he doesn’t like dark skin don’t you?

And that that is no less harmful to dark skinned girls than saying fair skin is awful is to fair skinned girls.

Look into colourism- the prejudice darker skinned black people feel they face as compared to lighter skinned black people.

There’s always someone who will tell you you’re inferior just for being yourself.

I have blemish prone skin, which looks a lot more even when it’s tanned (I use fake) and spots are less obvious. Otherwise I don’t think I would be bothered about having pale skin.

My legs are translucent they are so pale and I hate it. They show every little vein, bruise, blemish, cellulite. If I'm cold they look like corned beef. It is unsightly. My upper body sort of tans with some sun, but I tend to look more pink rather than brown. I do burn very easily so have to constantly put suncream on. I am also more prone to heat rash and prickly heat.

Well... you're not going to know a fake tan is fake if it looks good, are you?

You only notice the poorly applied ones so you think they all look bad.

(I can't spot fake tan anyway as I have a real tan, just saying though)

I don't hate anything about myself, thanks.

I am a red head and I am incredibly pale. I hate it! I think I look ill and it’s embarrassing being out in the sun and looking illuminous as my skin is so white. I fake tan once a week and honestly look and feel a million times better with it on. I don’t tan dark, just enough to have a healthy glow and not look like I’m about to keel over

I'm freckley which actually helps disguise any fake tan smears

I’m fairly average skinned in terms of Caucasian skin. However, it’s blotchy, bumpy, wrinkly and generally gross. I’ve tried a million products to even me out and make me look healthier, but the best thing so far is fake tan. I may be deluded in thinking it doesn’t look fake but I’m not orange just one or two tones darker than my normal skin.
I’d love to be pale, with perfect healthy glowing English rose skin and not bother with it, but here I am. And I shouldn’t be judged for it either, it’s not bothering anyone so why does it matter.

I’m pale. I couldn’t care less.

I don’t think it’s the issue that some hate their skin. I think it’s that the beauty industry spends million to tell us we should.

I’m amazed so many here make comments about how terrible it looks and yet (so far, largely) men would never say the same.

As a young teen, even adults took the piss out of my fair skin and that was with fake tan on sometimes. No matter what we have we are told its not good enough and we need to change. Not the right hair colour, eye colour, body shape. You can now be heavy, as long as you dress it up as being curvey, but only ky if you have curves in the right places ie. Big bum, hips and boobs. It's a must to have an hour glass figure no matter what size you are. To pale, too dark, too tall, too small, too fat, too thin, hairs too straight, hairs too curly, the list goes on and on.

Tanned skin just looks like sun damage to me, it doesn't make me feel attractive.

It's all about the big beauty companies selling stuff to us.

Black women are told to use lightening products

White women are told to use tan.

I am fair but have got more colour over the years. I can't be bothered with fake tan. It stinks and is messy.
Each to their own but I like my skin tone and it's suits me.

Pale as milk here and I like it. I have a bit of a tan at the moment but nobody believes me until I take my watch off to reveal the glow in the dark pale skin beneath it.

I used to want to tan golden so badly, I have very dark hair, dark eyes, dark eyebrows so I always felt I looked silly with such pale skin. However sometime around my mid twenties I came to the realisation that I'm fine as I am, no-one really cares, everyone is too busy worrying about themselves to notice me and anyone that does look down on me for the fact that I haven't got a tan isn't worth caring about anyway.

I agree it looks dreadful too on some people. I know someone who runs exercise classes and has patches everywhere where it has worn off for example her face will look white and patchy but it doesn't match the rest of her body

I'm 29 and have never faked tanned and I am very pale! But I wouldn't ever change it. I don't give my skin colour a second thought. I'd rather be pale than look like an orange.
I also stay out of the sun as much as I can, I'd rather not look like the gran off Benidorm when I'm 80 thanks

I hate mine because it's ugly

Fair skin is not ugly. Maybe you should work on your self esteem

I wear fake tan and certainly don’t look orange. I’m so pale that fake tan just makes me look “less pale” instead of tanned. I like it as it takes the edge off the obvious skin blemishes I have. Whenever I don’t wear it I always have people asking me if I’m feeling ok as I look under the weather

I don't like my pale skin because you can see the veins through it, particularly on my arms, every red blemish or spot shows up and I look washed out. I can't even wear makeup due to allergies, so can only get away with a bit of powder on my face.

I'd never get fake tan because I'd mess it up and I'd end up looking silly. It would be nice to have a bit of colour as it looks healthier.

Lucian Freud was a genius at capturing white skin.