My friend's are constantly telling me, hey, you need a tan, you look "pasty." Wow. That hurts my feelings a little bit, actually. What is wrong with the skin God gave me? Nothing as far as I can see. My Native American heritage gives me a glowing pink tone, and my German and Irish heritage makes me very light, and slightly freckled. I happen to love my skin, now anyway, but it wasn't easy to get there. Why on earth did I waste so many years trying to be "tan?" Perhaps because so many years of my life, all of my girl friends (the white ones anyway) constantly critisized my skin. My skin! The beautiful organ that covers my entire body, protecting me, making me whole, keeping me warm. Why did they encourage me to hurt my wonderful skin? I realized one day, looking at my German/Irish grandmother's face, may she rest in peace, in an old photo how beautiful her porcelain skin was. She moisturized it every day, taking tedious care, so much so that at age 70 she hardly had a wrinkle on her face, and this before the time of platic surgery. Even as a small child I could recognize how beautiful that made her. How beautiful it is to love your self, and take good care of your self.
After an inner-struggle to fit in, to be "cool" to look "hot" I decided, you know, I'd rather look 20 when I'm 30 than 40 when I'm 20. Seeing some girls I grew up with, barely emerging as adults, if that, and all ready their skin is leathery, they have wrinkles (wrinkles at 20!) and to be honest, they look silly with their tans. I say, I may not be 100% comfortable yet, but I have decided to love my skin, and to take care of it, and since, well, it covers my entire body, I think that's a huge start.
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As someone who is also teased for being "pale" (I like to think of myself as "fair", thanks), I can relate. I, too, have been told that I need to "get a tan"- my mother has even mentioned tanning beds! But I think I'm fine just the way I am. Thank you, for being yourself.
I've only been told that I need a tan once or twice. I work at the Renaissance Faire, so I like to keep my natural skin color, thank you.
I don't need drugs - I have genetics.
I never heard anyone telling other Caucasians to get a tan. lol. It's more like, "I need to get a tan" rather than "You need to get a tan." You're so right when you said you'd rather look 20 when you're 30 than 40 when you're 20. A lot of teenagers my age put a lot of make-ups on to make them look "mature" and wear tighter clothes. I wear jeans and t-shirts most of the time. I am 5'2 and I do not wear make-ups at all. Therefore, I always look younger than most of my peers. But I'm proud of it! Haha. I think it's also unhealthy to try to change your skin color. Maybe you'll end up like...Michael Jackson...
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I'm Mexican/European, and the European makes my skin VERY pale in the winter... But in the summer, if I go outside, I can tan to a deep bronze within 3 hours. It makes my friends think that I fake-n-bake, but they take back the statement when they're with me.
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