To embrace being pale!

[Boo2012]

Hi all, I'm very fair and freckle. Ginger/Strawberry blonde. I have been tanned in the past. Mainly when I was younger from the sun. But I'm more careful now I'm older. I've tried fake tan but I'm not great at it plus I have eczema so it doesn't all agree with me.

Anyway, like I said I'm trying to be much more careful in the sun. When I was younger I was guilty of getting burnt. I've never been a sun worshipper who sits in it all day though. But I've been sunburnt a fair few times.

My own mother is exactly that - a sun worshipper. She just sits in it for hours and puts oil on to burn. No good for anyone but that's her choice.

I seen my mum recently. I had some shorts on. She told me that my legs were too white for it and I should tan them up before wearing shorts again. Aibu to think that's really bleddy rude? It takes a lot of confidence for me to wear a pair of shorts as it is as not so skinny since having dc.

I agree a tan looks incredible but aibu to think people should embrace pale too? Particularly those fair headed people like me who are more at risk of the sun rays. My mum is naturally much darker skinned than me anyway. I don't know where I get the ginger gene from tbh.

So yes aibu to embrace the pale? And just think bugger it I'm going to go out with shorts and pale legs. It's so hot here! 😒

I don't have enough time to sit in the sun (with suncream) to even get a slight tan. I'm just not a fan of sitting around in it.

Ps. I'm going to the beach later. I don't want to feel like I have to cover up as I'm so pale!

Also, dp's stepdad died of skin cancer most likely from prolonged sun exposure and no suncream. So that's even more reason to be careful for me!

like you strawberry blonde never could tan i burn even in tenerife for a fortnight with no sun cream pure white legs, now if anyone says anything to me i just answer back goes with the red hair territory and dont let it get to me , in elizabethan times white skin was seen as very desirable so wear the shorts embrace the pale skin lifes too short to worry

There is nothing wrong with the natural colour of your skin, whatever it is. Very rude of your mum. Some people are obsessed with tanning. If you're happy being pale, then embrace it!

I’m pale!

I tan easily and rarely burn but I don’t sit in the sun long enough for either to happen

I don’t like heat and would much rather hide indoors with a fan than sit out in the sun for hours all day

I'm pale and freckley. I do tan in the summer but by October I'm like a ghost again 🤣🤣 fake tan won't develop on my skin. So I just embrace the paleness ! Milky white skin is beautiful and add in red hair and I'm super jealous!

I am like you OP right down to the eczema and very susceptible to rashes in the sun. I have been told I resemble a pint of milk in my shorts.
I am probably older than you , but I channel Nicola Roberts ( or perhaps HER mum).
Embrace the pale. We are unusual in our colouring, and the more striking for that.

I love being pale! And I am always super careful about not burning. I don't really like getting my legs out because of cellulite but I am totally fine with my skin tone.

YANBU

I'm probably biased, as I have pale pale skin (which was a blessing as a goth teen) which doesn't tan easily, and I'm quite happy with it. My DD is the same, though DS tans even in winter.

I think there's nothing wrong with pale skin at all, and I'll show off my pale white legs even if I do risk blinding people with the light reflecting off them

And I think Nicola Roberts is really stunning

YANBU

I'm blonde and fair skinned and don't tan at all. I don't bother with fake tan, it never looks right on me. Embrace the pale, I say!

@OrangeRug

And I think Nicola Roberts is really stunning

She is gorgeous

So is Isla Fisher, Christina Hendricks, Sophie Turner, Molly Quinn and other red headed actresses.

I'm also very pale and have quite freckley arms. I've never tanned and I'm always careful in the sun. I feel 10 times better when I have fake tan on though, I just look much better and healthier with a bit of colour. I admire anyone who can rock the pale look though. My sister always has very pale porcelain skin with not one mark or blemish on it and looks amazing.

Woah! Your mum is completely wrong here, on multiple levels. You don't need a tan to wear shorts . Pale skin is just as lovely as every other skin shade, and even if it wasn't, so fucking what? Sunbathing, knowing what we do now about skin health etc, is absurd. Your mum's presumptuousness in telling you what to wear is absurd. Her fecklessness in telling you to harm yourself to fit her personal and weird beauty ideals is absurd...

Wear your shorts and tell her to fuck right off with her stupid comments if she says anything again.

Thanks all. The only place I usually tan is my feet 😂 I usually wear flip flops so I have flip flop lines on meet. Then it's pale past my ankles 😂 I do sometimes tan slightly without burning on my lower arms - I guess they are more exposed and used to the rays!

I used to long for skin that would tan naturally and spent a good chunk of my 20s whacking the fake tan on every week. And then I just went off it (and all the labour involved in fake tan) and decided that I love my pale skin.

All skin tones are gorgeous! Patchy fake tan, not so much. The idea that skin is too pale to bare is just nonsense.

Omg yes. Embrace your colour and love the skin you're in. I hate this tan culture among white people, its so unhealthy and there's no other group where we consider it acceptable to tell people their skin colour is unattractive and needs changing (although I'm fully aware of colourism obv, but I hope most people realise that is unacceptable).

I am not as light as you but at I make it my aim every year to be the same colour at the end of summer as at the beginning because any time your skin changes colour it is sun damage and ageing (not to mention risk of cancer). Of course I never manage (I tend to go from light olive to tan without trying, but I could go deep brown if sunbathe) but having that aim means I take care of my skin by covering up and wearing high spf/ staying out of direct sun where possible. I've always done this and as a result my skin is much 'younger' than my friends and family who have been 'tanners'. Once you hit middle age you can really see the effects of sun worship. My dad is pale white and has had loads of cancerous bits removed... no thanks!

And big yikes to your mum putting oil on her skin to ensure she burns. I thought that had gone out in the 80s. She's putting her health in such danger, plus she must have skin like a saddlebag by this point.

Even a slight tan is a burn which raises your risk of skin cancer and causes wrinkles. Your mother probably looks like a leathery prune. Don’t end up like that. Being pale is fine!

I thought everyone was over tanning now?
Only a very recent fashion trend anyway. Tanned skin is damaged skin and I think looks very unattractive anyway.

You are right op.
I think desperately trying for a tan against nature is very 1976!

I am also very pale, as are most people with predominantly Celtic heritage- I used to be self conscious but now fully embrace it! My natural skin tone looks so much better than patchy fake tan (seriously, everyone can tell it’s fake if you’re naturally very pale) and as I’m getting older I can see the benefits of having spent every summer hiding from the sun like a vampire. I’m almost 40 and haven’t got a single wrinkle. Seriously, just wear what you want. Nobody cares.

I sit in the sun / outdoors briefly, any day I can to get some vitamin D other than that I'm in the shade / wearing a hat.

You probably look younger too, sun tanning ages your skin

I’m not getting the connection between being pale and having get your legs out/keeping your legs covered... There is no such thing as the correct skin colour for wearing shorts or anything else for that matter.

If you are in any doubt as to how sodding ridiculous it is to suggest otherwise then try and imagine thinking someone’s skin being too dark to wear shorts/any item of clothing... bloody bonkers