The things I’ve heard as a pale person even in a professional environment, where if you would simply swap “white” to “black”, “pale” to “dark” would get you fired on the spot. But for some reason, commenting on someone’s skin color if they’re pale is perfectly socially acceptable, encouraged even since it often gets a laugh from others.
As a very pale person who was bullied a lot for it and probably has lasting personal doubt from that bullying, I think there is just a fundamental difference (in the US). One is “just” mean and bullying, but there is no horrific dehumanizing history behind it. Both are bad, but I don’t think they’re directly substitutable in the way you describe, as I think it cheapens the history of slavery and racism
Yes! Most “white” people are in fact light brown. They cannot stand being around anybody different.
I’m mostly pink with some blue, and I heard all about it in high school. Later, in college (uni) I got over it because my punk, goth, and Black friends didn’t care. But man those “white” girls in high school were rotten.
Probably because the entire western world didn’t systematically buy and enslave kidnapped pale people, treat them as subhuman and breed them like livestock - so it’s not as touchy a subject.
Edit: Guess that’s still a touchy subject. You wanted an answer for why it’s still socially acceptable to joke about pale skin but not dark skin, and that’s pretty obviously the answer why it’s not the same thing.
Or maybe the downvotes are because the breeding only happened in the Southern US and French, German, British, Australian, and Belgian lemmies don’t wanna get roped in on that specific colonial history.
Not even that, colorism is prevalent globally–whiter skin privilege exists pretty much around the world. Look at mass media from Mexico and India and you’ll see a bunch of people who are several shades lighter than the majority.
talking about skin color is not a problem. But the way you quickly put “white-black” there makes me think that, yes, indeed it’s better for you if you keep your mouth shut at work
The things I’ve heard as a pale person even in a professional environment, where if you would simply swap “white” to “black”, “pale” to “dark” would get you fired on the spot. But for some reason, commenting on someone’s skin color if they’re pale is perfectly socially acceptable, encouraged even since it often gets a laugh from others.
And once again
redditorslemmings learn that using different words changes the meaning of statements.As a very pale person who was bullied a lot for it and probably has lasting personal doubt from that bullying, I think there is just a fundamental difference (in the US). One is “just” mean and bullying, but there is no horrific dehumanizing history behind it. Both are bad, but I don’t think they’re directly substitutable in the way you describe, as I think it cheapens the history of slavery and racism
Replies to your comment proved your point surprisingly quickly.
Yes! Most “white” people are in fact light brown. They cannot stand being around anybody different.
I’m mostly pink with some blue, and I heard all about it in high school. Later, in college (uni) I got over it because my punk, goth, and Black friends didn’t care. But man those “white” girls in high school were rotten.
Probably because the entire western world didn’t systematically buy and enslave kidnapped pale people, treat them as subhuman and breed them like livestock - so it’s not as touchy a subject.
Edit: Guess that’s still a touchy subject. You wanted an answer for why it’s still socially acceptable to joke about pale skin but not dark skin, and that’s pretty obviously the answer why it’s not the same thing.
Or maybe the downvotes are because the breeding only happened in the Southern US and French, German, British, Australian, and Belgian lemmies don’t wanna get roped in on that specific colonial history.
Not even that, colorism is prevalent globally–whiter skin privilege exists pretty much around the world. Look at mass media from Mexico and India and you’ll see a bunch of people who are several shades lighter than the majority.
Because skin tone still relates to status, pale equals you can stay inside rather than in the field.
Meanwhile in Northern Europe tan is status, as it indicates you can be in the sun outside rather than stuck in the office
Yes, but to say that something bad exists independently of European colonialism is heresy. /s
Though, to be fair, European colonialism made it worse.
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talking about skin color is not a problem. But the way you quickly put “white-black” there makes me think that, yes, indeed it’s better for you if you keep your mouth shut at work
Poor white people, they have it so hard. 😞
What kind of reply is this even supposed to be?
Not even close to the point being made. Skin colour is being used as an analogy for imposing beauty standards and you’re implicitly defending that.