I Am What I Am

RDP# Tuesday prompt: Fair

Too many definitions to mention 🙂

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We had some rather strange ideas about skin tone when I was a kid.  I happened to tan quite easily, so everyone said, “Oh, she’s dark-complected.”  Complected?  Yes, it’s a word.  It means “having a certain complexion.”

Those who burned easily and didn’t get the much-coveted tan (we didn’t use sunscreen because we didn’t make a cancer connection with the sun yet) were considered “light-complected.”

Those who were “light-complected” were thought to have fair skin.  If  you tanned easily, you had darker skin.

Then I started buying makeup, looking for a foundation shade that matched my so-called dark-complected skin. There wasn’t as much of a range to choose from then as there is now.   Ivory, natural, beige, tan.  That was about it.  Today, I would fall into the ivory nude or ecru range. Definitely not dark-complected, but actually very fair-skinned.  Not pure white, but very light, very fair.

The truth is that it’s the melanin in the skin that determines how tan a person becomes.  Darker skin tends to have more melanin than lighter skin, but  in fact what we used to consider a beautiful tan is actually just skin damage.

There was a time when very fair skin was considered a mark of gentility, and no lady would expose her delicate skin to the sun.  Hence, hats with very broad brims, and parasols to protect the skin from the sun.  Only girls who had to work in the fields had dark skin, and freckles were definitely not “in.”

Women actually used to consume tiny amounts of arsenic to whiten their skin. They often died young, but boy, their skin was white!

Ideals of beauty come and go.  Used to be, the only truly beautiful girl had golden locks, limpid blue eyes, rosy cheeks and lips, and pure white skin.  Everyone else could just go fish, I guess, because brunettes and redheads were simply de trop. Unattractive, unwanted, and unloved, poor things.

Well, fair skin or not, today I have the dreaded age spots on my hands and arms.  Not so much on my face, although I’m not sure why.  But  you know what?  It just doesn’t matter. As Popeye would say, “Iyam whut Iyam, an’ dat’s all whut Iyam.”

 

RDP:fair