the preference for sun tanned skin to pasty, In some cultures, tanned/dark skin is seen as less desirable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_skin_in_Japanes

the preference for sun tanned skin to pasty, In some cultures, tanned/dark skin is seen as less desirable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_skin_in_Japanese_culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_skin_in_Japanese_culture My loose (and quite possibly wrong) understanding is that this is based on the notion of tanned skin being associated with lower-class women who spent time laboring outside and getting smelly/dirty versus rich and noble women who could sit inside all day. In America, there is sometimes (often?) discrimination even within an ethnic group based on skin tone, e.g. lighter-skinned vs. darker-skinned African-Americans.