Pale Women Are Beautiful Too: Stop Saying We Need a Tan

I am not pasty, sickly, or a vampire. I am embracing my natural skin-tone

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

I have always been pale and was very insecure about it.

When I was 6-years-old, the kids in my class started calling me “ghosty” and a vampire. Their words really hurt me and I would cry to my mother when I came home from school.

I wondered where they learned their dislike for pale skin at such a young age? Was it from the media that mocks paleness or their parents? Either way, those little kids were misguided and I never retaliated because I believed I was ugly.

My whole life, people have been telling me to “get a tan” or asking me if I’m sick.

I have been judged by the color of my skin but not in the terrible, oppressive way that People of Color have been. I want to make it clear that this article is not a comparison to their struggle because my struggle will never compare.

The tanned “California girl” look is revered in our society. Personally, I think some people overdo the tanning and offensively tread the line of impersonating People of Color.

I have tanned and bronzed myself, only to feel weird in my own skin. This is because I was doing it for other people and not for…