To think men prefer pale skin??

[Anastasia2]

Hi just a question to gather some opinions. Me and my friend went into the sauna this morning . A group of women were discussing fake tan & how it's useless as alot of men they've dated prefer lighter skin anyway..
My friend piped up - usually very opinionated and loud and said she's shocked as she's so pale and feels like next to me she looks ill.
(I am ethnic and my skin is a medium.brown shade)
Women proceeded to say about men actually prefer lighter skin, that its human nature and goes back to the eighteenth century.. i thi k these women were demographicallytaling about white males in their late 30s middle class as this seems to be the majority in the club were members at...Next thing a few men came into the sauna & they all got involved..they also said they neither preferred it they just didn't prefer "darker skin" it was a very uncomfortable conversation as I was the only one of colour 😂 but it did get me thinking if its true ..any thoughts?

Might it be that some men prefer a natural skin tone? Rather than a fake tan effect?

Yes I would have assumed they meant someone's natural skin tone (whatever the colour) rather than fake tan.

My husband prefers me with a tan (but to be fair when I’m pale I don’t look like an English rose, I look like the undead)

Yes that's the statement my friend made but the group of women were adamant it was a "cultural" thing and goes back to their mothers/grandmothers as "dark/brown" skin was an unknown. It was an interesting conversation tbh 😅 but did make me feel a bit crappy as I'm.recently single and have low self esteem as it is

I’ve met men who prefer tanned skin and men who prefer pale skin. Every man is different, just like every woman has a different preference 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm sure a lot of men hate fake tan, since it is objectively horrible. But that is surely different from preferring light skin in general.
It is horrible to think of anyone preferring lighter skin. I imagine some men do, because racism, but hopefully it isn't common.

It's almost as though men are different with different preferences, just like women...

Surely it depends on so many things, not least cultural heritage etc?!

Dark skin being unknown would surely depend where in the world you are!

There's different types of tanned or dark skin though. There's naturally dark skin which looks gorgeous and then there's fake tan that looks like you've been tangoed.

People like different things. I always wanted darker skin and eyes because I look like an Anglo Saxon ghost.

It is horrible to think of anyone preferring lighter skin. I imagine some men do, because racism, but hopefully it isn't common.

It won't always be because of racism. I've met many black people who aren't keen on very dark black skin, and prefer lighter shades.

I would assume they mean they like a natural skin tone not that horrible fake tan orange tinge not that they prefer a pale skin over a natural dark skin

@Anastasia2 Sorry you had to sit and listen to people describe your skin colour in such a negative way.

I think men find different things attractive in women depending on where they’ve grown up.

In multicultural cities, I don’t think men typically prefer the English rose look but in more rural ‘whiter’ areas, maybe so.

Sounds like a really unpleasant experience for you OP. They were being twats. To be honest if my friends sat around earnestly discussing what 'men prefer' I'd be questioning my friendships, even without the skin colour aspect.

Same
The rest of the family is dark hair, dark eyes, dark olive skin, going back to the mixed race ancestry two generations before them
I'm a pale blue redhead with green eyes that looks like I won't survive winter

Fucking hell. I'd have reported them to the front desk for racism and had them banned.

That's called 'colourism' - look it up. Definite racist undertones to that too...

As a pale, freckled redhead, I have to say, it’s never been obvious to me that men like paler skin.
I do think it’s more likely that people / men are less attracted to obviously fake tan.
That said, racism, especially casual racism, and unconscious bias are very much a fact, and if you felt uncomfortable, then it’s more than likely racism was at play, for which I am sorry.
Apologies OP, not very well worded, but hopefully you understand my point.

I don’t think women on here can answer what men like. We need to reach out to the universal male spokesman.

I think that’s a very weird, rude, racist thing to say. Just because they say it, doesn’t mean it’s true.

How do you know we aren't all random men?

I’m not sure.
Dh doesn’t like fake looking anything. So he never complains about my ghostly look!
However, he certainly wouldn’t complain if I caught the sun and tanned.

What a weird uncomfortable conversation to have when people are sitting around with few clothes on.

I’ve worn fake tan every day since I was 13. I’ve never done it for a man’s opinion of me. I just like how I look with a tan vs no tan and don’t want to sun damage my skin.

I have a fiance who doesn’t even notice when I’m freshly fake tanned vs it’s almost worn off.

How about blue? If I get a bit of a suntan then I move up the Dulux shades to milk bottle white.