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?

Women proceeded to say about men actually prefer lighter skin, that its human nature and goes back to the eighteenth century

I don’t understand this. Why? What happened in the 18th century?!

Why put a question mark here???

Do people really think 'mmn, what nice colour skin'?!

What an awful conversation to be part of. You poor thing.

I imagine they are talking about the historic adoration of pale skin as a sign of wealth as those labouring outside would have had more "tanned skin" so pale skin was a signifier of class.

I didn't think people thought like this anymore though.

It is so depressing how shallow people (mostly men but some women too) are that they base their preferences and attraction to others on appearance.
I know it is how the world works by and large but it’s just so ridiculous.
People (mostly women) then using their time, energy and money to change their appearance to what is in fashion at the time whether that is fake tan, fake teeth, fake lips and boobs, removing or adding hair.
What a waste.

Nothing happened but it's what people imagine when they think of "history" Marie Antoinette etc.

The western European trend for light skin begin far far earlier. It's always been a feature of what is perceived as attractive.

But surely not now in 2024?!?

Some do, some don't but most agree fake tan looks naff unless really skillfully done.

It was a feature in the past because it was a symbol of wealth, as was being plump. Brown skin was associated with working outside or in the fields, thinness was associated with poverty, starvation and ill health.

Of course this flipped early in the 20th century, partly with the advent of photography, slimness was the new ideal and a tan was associated with leisure and money for foreign travel.

I don't care what colour skin a woman has. That has no bearing on how attractive she is at all. I don't like fake tan though if it's poorly applied (the way it can look awful on the back of hands for instance!).

In reality, 85% of the global population are non white/have non pale skin. The majority of people dont have pale skin at all. It can skew your perception if you live in the UK or in Europe. If all men (and women) preferred pale skin as 'human nature' a lot of these populations wouldn't exist in today's age!

What an odd conversation. I could imagine that perhaps a lot of people don’t find fake tan attractive but I don’t think most people really have a skin colour preference? But then I’ve always been baffled by the media referring to women as a hair colour so maybe I’m just odd.

Surely it isn’t racist to have a preference for paler skin? I am more attracted to white men; just like I’m more attracted to men with dark hair, and just like I’m more attracted to men who aren’t very muscular.

It was 'cultural' in the 18th century to have slaves and make children of 5 work 100 hours a week down coalmines.
People are somewhat more sophisticated now that 300 odd years have elapsed.
What a stupid thing for them to say.

There isn’t a homogenous group called “men”, seriously. Every man has his own preferences. However, I am going to make a massive assumption that a patchy fake tan isn’t high on the list of preferences.

‘the women having the convo were early 50s so I suppose there could have been a bit of subtle racism.’

Bit of an ageist comment there - the irony…..

I think white pale legs are the worst. I don’t mind having pale arms or face, but I hate in the summer that in order to show off attractive legs, I have to fake tan.

We all have own personal preferences. Those polls about who is most attractive in the celebrity world may be fed down, no idea who is the most attractive these days?

Our types who we are attracted to are natural, we get an idea when we are young. Big thing now is women to have absolutely no hair I'm told?

I think there's been a misunderstanding..my friend who was with me wasn't agreeing with the group of women. She was the one saying she found it hard to believe that anyone would prefer lighter skin to dark also making comments that she's so pale she looks ill etc..the group of the women were the ones who were convinced and not letting it go.

Well... as a matter of fact I wonder it wasn't the reverse here - hence the unreal comments. ?

Most attractive? By whom? You are categorically stating that blonde fair lightly tanned skin is views as the most attractive? Bollox.
People see attractive pale as attractive whether they have dark hair like Catherine zeta jones, Kate Middleton, Kate Beckinsale or Lily Collins or blonde hair like Rosamund pike or sienna miller.

Who cares what men prefer?

But yes that conversation was racist, as are a few comments on this thread.

Indeed a ludicrous thread that conveniently forgets:

Beauty is in de eyes of the beholders.

I've literally never met a guy who likes pale skin

It is racist, as it's a cultural leaning towards the global west, white and wealthy. Of course, the individuals concerned almost certainly didn't mean or weren't aware of the racism, but it's there in the cultural influence nevertheless.

It certainly isn't true as a general rule that "men prefer" lighter skin, but might be that many do in the social circles the people speaking move in. It might be true in some circles that men prefer blondes: this is also racist as well as sexist, because it's based on an Anglo-Saxon cultural bias.

I think it's also to do with what we're used to, as on the whole like attracts like and we go for what's familiar.

Let me fix that for you.

'Naturally fair skin? Also gorgeous.'

My skin needs no alteration in shade or any additional 'glow' to appear healthy thanks very much 🙄