Is brown skin better than white pale skin?

Question

Okay, I'm white and we all know whites naturally have pale or porcelain skin until we hit the sun or something.
But every white person I know thinks dark brown tans look better than their natural skin. Even though tanning is the number one cause for skin cancer most whites still do it.
Are we just that unhappy with our skin that we will die over it?

Answer 1

I think people get tans for many different reasons:

Some do dislike themselves as lighter skinned individuals and aspire to be as much like darker complected people as possible.

But I think others simply admire the way they look when they get a little sun

And I think others just "go with the flow" so to speak... They get tans because it's the "in" thing to do.

As far as whether or not it's better to have darker skin- I'm really not all that familiar with the advantages and/or disadvantages of pigmentation and sun exposure. I've heard it said that more pigmentation provides a certain degree of protection from the sun's UV rays. And, if I remember correctly, too much sun exposure can harm you but too little can harm you as well. Since you've asked this question, I feel inspired to learn more about this subject.

Concerning how people look- This is a matter of opinion. My opinion is that different ''shades'' look better on different people. Some people look great ''pale'', others look better slightly brown, others look better extremely dark, and so on. But this is just my opinion. Bottom line: Everyone should do whatever makes them happy and satisfied with themselves.

Answer 2

I often wondered why [most of you guys] do that in the first place when you [should] know that it can cause cancer. You asked a good question. Personally i think all skin colors have their own personal beauty on a person. Maybe a tan is nice, but it should be natural, as in maybe a pale person should do more outside activities rather than going to a tanning salon. You'd get a tan anyway, and a workout, and even though you'd still have a chance of getting skin cancer it would be at the usual rate and not an elevated level.

[Plus, some of the answers you've been getting were seriously biased, to the point where it makes them sound a little racist. They might not be, but I just want them to know that they seriously need to get there heads out of their *** if they think that ANY color is ANY better than ANY other!!!
Stop being naive, please, it's ignorant!]

Answer 3

I think that it depends on what a person thinks individually. I have porcelain white skin and I love my skin, I cannot even get a natural tan because I will burn, and spend money unnecessarily at a tanning bed? No way! My husband loves me just the way that I am, and I do too!

Answer 4

NO SKIN COLOUR IS BETTER THAN ANYOTHER. I have dated a lot of white men and still do, so Ill have to say that tans are WAAYYY sexier on a guy... as long as he is not burnt red or anything like that. The one thing I hate is when all his body parts are tanned, except for his butt/groin region...... eeeeek! Get a full tan dude....Ill be happy to lay beside you while you get a butt tan lol. Thats why I love to go for the Italians... a lot of them have it made in the tanning department.

Answer 5

My mother calls it "pigment envy" :)

From what I understand, tanning became trendy around the turn of the 20th century, and more popular (if I remember the dates correctly) in the 1920's as a way to show off how little someone had to work. It was seen, societally, as an indication that those who were tanned, were not laborers, but upper-class elites who could spend their days playing lawn games and soaking up the sun.

(This has been put forth by some people who believe this sprang from the idea that darker-skinned people were poor because they were lazy and idle, angering "whites" who believed they had to work harder and therefore, couldn't take the time off to spend their days fishing or laying around. Thus came 'tanning' and all the societal perception that a tan person must be wealthy enough not to have to work--because only minorities didn't care about climbing the social ladder.)

Hope that helps!
P.S.--the view in parentheses is not mine, but one that was explained to me by another person. I've added a link to the source box below.

Answer 6

I've often thought of this. I'm white, although not porcelain white. I like to be tan but not dark brown. I think it's just a cultural thing. I have ethnic friends that tease me about it. I have to say also that my daughter is 1/2 Greek and in the summer she is stopped by strangers to complement her! Of course I'm bias!

Answer 7

I really don't know what the obsession is. I do know that in Asia, white skin is in. People purposefully stay out of the sun to keep their skin lighter. Its weird how here in America us pale folks want to be dark but in some parts of Asia they want to be light.

Answer 8

I am curious to know this as well! I live in a college town and their are probably a dozen tanning salons in business. who ever said that fake-tan-orange-looking skin was attractive?

Answer 9

I don't know if it's necessarily better, but healthwise, being darker skinned does protect you from skin cancer and premature aging caused by sun damage.

I'm a light skinned black woman who primarily dates white men so I have no problem with white skin at all. It's white people who do apparently.

Answer 10

I don't think any color of skin looks better than any other color of skin.

And from what I understand, the original purpose of tanning was a statement that the person was well-off enough that he or she could waste time lying around in the sun (and pay for the expense to get to somewhere where it was warm enough to do so).