being "white"

This evening I was complimented on my white skin by the girl at the nearby convenience store. Hers wasn't the first compliment, either. People around here value pale skin, and due to my natural pink-ish coloring and the lack of sunlight during winter, I've gotten quite pale.

Now, in years past I always thought of myself as pasty. Pale wasn't something I wanted to be. But here in Taiwan, having pale skin is considered beautiful. People walk around with umbrellas to protect their skin and wear more covering than they need to in warmer weather. There are creams in the cosmetic stores that are for "whitening" as much as "anti-aging". When my photo was taken for my ARC (which I will never show anyone because it's actually hideous), not only were my blemishes cleaned up, they whitened my skin.

I'm not one to say "no" to Vitamin D. I love being out in the sun. But it's refreshing to see my pale skin as desirable, as opposed to something that needs to be fixed. I worked as a lifeguard at a water park for two summers and I remember, vividly, a young college-aged coworker saying, "Yeah, after I get my base coat [tan], I just stop using sunscreen."

Me, I was always in SPF 50 twice a day. I got dark as toast none-the-less, because I was spending nearly 8 straight hours in the sun, five days a week, all summer. But when I quit that job, I didn't get super tan, not without a lot of work (I hate tanning, it's hot and boring) and tan lines were a pain in the butt.

I will not say that the perspective of "pale skin as beautiful" is 100% healthy, because there's a lot of pressure on women here to be super-pale, when for many of them their natural (gorgeous) skin tone isn't going to allow that. It's the same as someone with very pale skin who burns easily spending insane time trying to get a tan that may not look right, or may be unhealthy for them.

My point is that Taiwan is teaching me, personally, to appreciate my natural skin-tone. Because here is a culture that values what I have, and sees it as valuable, instead of something that needs work. It makes me feel less pressured to get tan, and instead feel that protecting my skin and keeping it healthy is a good thing to do. I'm not saying that no one should try to get a tan, or protect their skin from the sun to keep it light if that's what they want (it's your body, after all, you're going to do with it whatever you want) but that valuing yourself for what you are is really important. Beauty is very, very culturally-based, and the standards are often too dramatic or specific for everyone to achieve, anyway.

What's vital is that you remember that, and don't base your beauty off what's considered "hot" or "not" by where you are. Hell, you shouldn't base your idea of beauty off of anyone except yourself.