Hi All,

Was just wondering if people in turkey prefer light fair skin or tan skin?

on themselves or on other people?

 I think she or he means on other people

I think tan skins becouse all of turks are fair

so I dont know it just aguess .

we are about 80million people and we all have different opinions :S

Huh?

Exactly..

I prefer some parts as white as possible and some parts as tanned as possible for example..

I know some people they would prefer quite dark (chocolate color)  and I heard from a friend of mine, his friend adores stripy colors

I must have been going to a different Turkey to you

I dont think they really give a monkey`s

Actually this reminded me a marching thing we used to sing with the sargent while we were in the army:

S: sergeant P : privates

S: kim geliyor?   /Who is coming?
P: canavarlar   /monsters
S: kim geliyor? /Who is coming?
P: canavarlar  /monsters
S: canavarlar  /monsters
P: geliyorlar   /are coming
S: daglari     /the mountains
P: deliyorlar  /they are drilling
S: kizlari      /the girls
P: seviyorlar /they are loving
S: hangisini? /which one?
P: sarisin esmer kumral farketmez çünkü biz topçuyuz. topçulara affetmez. hey hey hey.

/ blondes, brunettes, darkskinned do not matter, because we are the infantary and the infantary never misses. Hey hey hey

It is kind of like this :

(Kind of "This is my rifle, this is my gun" - from Full Matel Jacket)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kU0XCVey_U  

 Hummmm....an army of fearsome perverts!  And guess who their leader was?????   

 I have only ever seen one fair skinned Turk and she lives in America and has skin the colour of milk!

I suppose Nifrititi took herself as point of reference? Compared to me all Turks were dark, even despite my best tan If I could choose I´d love to have a darker complexion...too bad with both parents having skin pale enough not to require make-up if they wanted to have the main part in a popular franchise about vampires, I stood no chance

I was never really happy with my extremely white skin. Untillll I visited Turkey! I visited the family of a friend of mine, who never actually saw a foreign person in real life. They were touching my skin all the time, and said it was sooo pretty! Since then I accept the colour that I have, and I don´t try my best to get a tan anymore

I guess people generally want to be the colour that they are not. Dark people want to be lighter. Lighter people want to be darker. People with curly hair want to have straigh hair, people with straight hair want to have curls, etc. etc.

Solariums are full of ladies who are trying to be tunned...Seems they think Turkish man find tunned skin more attractive...

In my opinion lots of man do not have skin color preference, this is a matter for women. The best skin color for you is the one in which you feel yourself more confident. For sure, man will find you attractive in both situations..Especcially in Turkey

I dont know but i think every body like the different for example the dark like the fair and the fair like the dark .

I know the poeple who have yellow hair when they see black hair they are admire of it .

so in my last post i didnt said the turks are white I said fair I mean average not blond not tan .

Oh I mean like you know how in western countries like USA, europe, australia, they like getting tan skin and have all these creams to make their skin tan whereas in asian countries like japan, china, korea they like fair skin and have creams to make their skin more fair.

That´s kind of what I was wondering...

What do the common skin products sold in turkey do - make skin tan or fair?

Thanks for all the replies by the way!

Maybe this is just my own experience... like I mentioned before, people have complimented my white skin in Turkey. All the people who thought my whiter than white skin was pretty, were from more traditional villages or towns. The people who thought I should go sit in the sun and get a tan were from more beachy tourist resorts. They clearly preferred a tan on a girl.

I was thinking... perhaps it has something to do with how you get a tan... If you live in a tourist resort, and you´re white as milk, it probably means you have an office job and are locked up inside all day. Getting a tan means you have free time, like a luxary. If you are from the more traditional areas that I talked about, you get a tan if you work on the fields, picking tomatoes, cotton, etc. If you are white, it means you are not working, but being the proper housewife, staying all day inside the home.

Any thoughts on this?

 Cosmetic shops are full of self-tanning creams and lots of bronzing facial powders are sold as well. The first question about skin color was a bit unclear about what you were looking for. Skin color isn´t really an issue here. Foreign people are appreciated and well liked here. However, that is not due to their skin color. Turkish people are attracted to what is different. So the extreme from light to extremely dark are appreciated. Mostly, they are curious about other people as many have never met a foreigner before. I get stopped alot and asked to pose for pictures by men and women. Whole families stop and stare as I walk down the street. When my Swedish best friend and i walk together we can literally stop traffic as people can´t drive and stare at the same time. It has nothing to do with beauty. It has everything to do with curiosity. It can be annoying. I just try to imagine what it must be like to grow up without really knowing a lot of different people.  I more likely than not will say no to photos but will just smile when i see people staring and say ´Merhaba´ then they will smile back, say ´merhaba´ and turn around. There is some racism here and it´s unfortunate. I have experienced it as well as some of my Russian friends. On the whole, there is curiosity and appreciation for what is new and different. Keep in mind, while I have travelled quite a bit in Turkeky, I live in Istanbul and my opinion is based on largely my experiences here.

When it comes to hair, without doubt it´s straight hair that people love most. I have long curly hair. When i got it cut the hair dresser begged me to let him blow dry it straight. I love my curly hair but I also love trying new things so I allowed him to. Well, i was stunned by the number of Turkish people that stopped to tell me how much ´better´ I looked with straight hair. My foreign friends all love my curly hair! It´s ironic. I wear it straight or curly depending on my mood. But, curly hair is something that they don´t like very much at least that is my experience.

Actually  a very interesting discussion is going here..

 You keep cracking me up with all your edits!

Discussing preferences about skin color? What a superficial way to evaluate people. Throughout my life, I have never thought about the skin color of the people I get in touch with. Boasting of fair complexion, singing the virtues of a darker skin... What is the use of all of this?

I have been acquainted with Turkish people, both in the US and in Turkey for many years (well over 20 years). In that time it has been with great saddness that I´ve seen some learn of human color consciousness.

Some Turks are very fair, some are dark.....and it´s no big deal.

The fact is that many people have a preference for a certain look. This doesn´t mean the judge the character of people based on that skin colour. It´s just a simple question about cosmetic preferences, and I think it leads to an interesting discussion. I watched two shows on MTV one day. One was Jersey shore, in which people try to get darker and darker all the time, using sprays and tanning-beds and whatever they can. The other was The price of beauty, in which they visited Thailand. People did whatever they could there to actually get their skin lighter. It´s interesting to see how tastes vary across cultures.

By the way, I said I liked my white skin, not because I think white is better or something. I like my white skin because it is MY skin. It keeps my organs from falling out

 I agree with you some turks are fair and some are dark

Why vineyards´ post is in a blue "tan"?

It seems to happen when more than a certain amount of people. ´like´ the post.

You can also have a blue tan

It seems to happen when more than a certain amount of people. ´like´ the post.

You can also have a blue tan

I think only one thing can be said for people who has taken this thread seriously or posted something seriously or liked it or hated it :

Suffering from chronical sense of humour failure!!!

[nasal twang]Amen brother[/nasal twang]

Right on sister! We like what is ours because that is the way the package came! No use complaining! Rather spend my time enjoying what and who I am...the whole package from the skin to the soul!

There is no doubt, some of us suck in many respects.

It was  a misunderstanding.. There is no swearing but I thought there was..

Apologies..

Let me tell you a joke. In the aftermath of the great war, three Albanians who had newly emigrated to Turkey were walking around in Istanbul. They knew only three phrases in Turkish: biz, on para and ha mori hay hay meaning alright. At night, they come by a well in the bottom of which a corpse was lying. A policeman appears and asks them about the dead man.

-Cop: Who killed this person?

-Albanians: Biz!

-Cop: Why did you kill him?

-Albanians: 10 para.

-Cop: Bastards, so you killed this guy for ten cents. Hold your hands up you are arrested.

And the Albanians say, Ha mori hay hay and they follow him.

Your dialogues with people are more or less like that. There is no hope of communicating with you.

A decent person would not write the things you wrote in your post. I have a simple policy, I don´t say the words, I wouldn´t say when I am face to face with a person. I think it is a bit coward and unmanly to bark from a distance but the Internet is a good hide out for cowards isn´t it?

Apologies..

 Yes, the big book says everything is connected with the burgeois.

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Who are you Mr. Frog?

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I know you enjoy fighting in the gutter but remember this is a forum and we are discussing a particular subject. If you have anything to say about this subject post it. If you are seeking to settle personal problems, try PM´s. One more, stupid remark and I will ask for your account´s deletion.

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Cool down. I am placing a complaint. Let´s see what happens.

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Back to the topic... disadvantage of being Whitey McCracken... A white skin colour shows all imperfections much better than a tanned skin. With a bit of colour cellulite is less visible.

Well according to a source which was written about 500 years ago,the ideal turkish woman´s skin colour is supposed to be fair.Dark hair but fair skin

Turkish women don´t go to solarium to be liked by men btw It´s something crazy among women They compete with each other. If you ask my mom,her ideal daughter-in-law has got dark hair with dark eyes but fair skin She doesn´t like Adriana Lima

and about having dark&fair skin,it depends on the area where people live/have lived.75% of my ancestors from Macedonia,Bulgaria and Albania.This background has given me and my cousin some European looking.

but my maternal grandma whose paternal has been in Bursa for almost 7 centuries,has dark features.Her side is full of dark people

OK We have learned this particular disadvantage. I am pretty sure, dermatologists do know a good deal about this. Back to my fair skin talk; there is a void in the bottom of this one end of which opens up to racism. Racism flourished in families who had had non-racist pasts. On contact with other races, they developed a defense mechanism. They did not let their children marry people from other races. They developed a phobia of losing their purity. Everybody knows that too much blood has been shed for this stupid cause. Some radical decisions have been taken to mitigate the effects of racial awareness in Europe and America. Accordingly, TV shows began featuring a multitude of races. This point was paid  particular attention in children´s programs. The common goal was making people lose their ethnic awareness. Still, in the stadiums of countries like Spain, England and Italy, black players are subjected to racist attacks by the spectators. In America, racial awareness is usually a lot higher than it is in Europe. Unfortunately, racism has also begun in this country. Let us be paranoid about it. There are so many brainless people who are waiting for a spark.

Why are people from many walks of life still trying to stop racism? Because there is still potential for the things to get out of hand.

Don´t give your children blond Barbie dolls only. Let them get used to brown or black ones too. Don´t praise their fair skin, or resent their dark hair. You can´t imagine how many families are ignorantly doing this. Raised like this, some of these children become racists after reading a few wrong books or making a few bad friends.

Let´s do our best to kill this race culture.

Somehow I´m reminded of Rodney Dangerfield here....

I think you may praise a child´s fair skin. It was better than what people told me when I was younger... "Why are you so white?" "Are you sick or something?" "Jeez, you should go out and get some sun!" (Which I did, but not much change in colour happened). The real lesson is that everybody looks fine, just the way they were born. And yes, I agree with different coloured dolls. But even better then dolls is giving the right example, and showing the child how you treat people of different colours. A black barbie doll has a good influence on a girl, but mommy´s black friend has an even better influence.

This is ridiculous. Should we all now aspire to have a black friend? Are there agencies renting friends of different colours? I´m 32 and in my life I´ve spoken to a black person once. It was on a bus and he was asking me about how to get somewhere. There aren´t many black people in Poland, not many in Ireland either. Does the fact that I don´t know any black people make me a racist?

What we should teach our children is that all people are the same, regardless of their race, gender or material status. Not that we should do something just to show off...

Wow, never thought that this thread would get so much attention. Isnt is just a colour of skin?

And yes, shame on you, DD. You spoke only once?   You are such a villager! You probably havent met in your life any kazakh or japo at all. What a shame!

I agree with Vineyards. We have to learn to respect each other and at the same time keep our cultural heritage. Otherwise these big organizations like UN or EU or USA are going to make us all into one big, colorless, cultureless Kolhoz.

 This reminds me of my oldest son when he was aged 2.  We were travelling from Germany through Netherlands on a train.  He sat on my husbands knee staring blindly for what seemed like hours, at the black man in the seat opposite, never ever having seen a black person before.  The black man found it very amusing. 

You are right about teaching our children that people are the same where ever they are from (we are all physically made the same way more or less I mean) or what ever position they hold (I hate elitism as much as racism).  Not like Animal Farm, "all animals are equal, just that some animals are more equal than others"!

He is 32 so 30 years ago, there were hardly any black people where I come from in the sticks, and there still aren´t that many. 

You find my posts are a little elitist because that is the way you wish to find them. I think you have this view of me so that so off the mark!!!  Anyway,  I did not say we are animals, just quoting from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell.  And really a perfect example of how people as you say, "Designed perfect (most of the time) but failed at our own choice"

1) I come from the Fens so you can decide if living in the wilderness of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk is elitist, where black people prefer not to live, not sure why that is so weird

2) What makes you think I am elitist??  You know about as much about me as I know about you and that is not that much

3) I did not say I liked George Orwell - you are right, he is a weird writer  

This is turning into quite a strange thread, where it seems to be an issue that you do not live somewhere where black people have chosen not to live!  Funny thing is, I live somewhere where Poles, Lithuanians, Estonians, and Latvians prefer to live

I like George Orwell. And I see nothing wrong with Animal Farm. It´s like fables - animals were used to represent concepts, human characteristics etc in order to teach readers a moral lesson.

No, I´m not saying we should all go to the "adopt a black friend" agency. I´m just saying that the behaviour of parents is more influential on children than their toys. Vineyards suggested that every child needs a coloured Barbie. You can give a child a black Barbie, but if you then turn around and talk racist or act racist the Barbie doll doesn´t have any influence. Lead by example. The Barbie doesn´t hurt though

in the States we teach children to not stare. if that had been me,  my mother would have said something to make me stop. being one of the rare ´brown/woman/foreigner´ that most people have ever met or seen before, i wonder why people think it´s acceptable to stare. maybe it is just cultural but i find it rude. maybe in other cultures staring is acceptable. i am certain the man wasn´t amused.  he was just tolerant as life has taught those of us who get stares ALL the TIME to just bare it as best as we can. otherwise we will go around everyday angry and depressed. better to make lemonade...

by the way i´ve been in poland...next time i come i´ll call you daydreamer so you can add two to the list of brown people you have met!

Yes you are right, it is rude to stare and I don´t think it is acceptable.  He was two years old and the man opposite did not mind, he started to talk to and play with my little boy to put him at ease.  He just could not take his eyes of him!  Nothing rude or personal just a little boy unsure of something.  The man was very pleasant and when it was time to leave the train we wished each other well on our journeys.

 You are such a word twister, where have I ever said I have a dislike for Eastern Europeans?  I think most of them are very nice people actually!   

That´s news! Havent read any posotive opinion of yours on them uptill now

I stare at people, at unusual people (beautiful, ugly).

You think why many papers and magazines use beautiful people (or somwway unusual) on their covers or advertisements? Because people stare.

I once saw two toddlers, they were maybe 12 months old, maybe a little more. One had blond fuzz, blue eyed and pink skinned, the other was dark brown with brown eyes and black hair in little tufts. When they saw each other their eyes got large and they walked around each other looking each other in amazement. There was no hostility, just curiosity. The adults just stood by and allowed the two boys to check each other out.

Another time I was in a Department of Motor Vehicles line in the SF Metropolitan Area (a very diverse area) There was a Chinese man holding a baby boy, the child was about 10 months old. The child looked to his side and saw avery dark black man, a blond haired white woman, brown woman, red haired people...each time the child looked at a person not of his race he started screaming loudly hysterically, then he looked back up at his father´s face and calmed down, until he saw another person not of his race. It seems the child probably had not been outside the home very much, or seen any other races. His father comforted him, but I don´t think he actually knew what was bothering the child. It was easy for me to see as I was behind and was able to follow the child´s gaze.

I think when confronted with something unusual or different, something we have not seen before, many are fearful. What happens after probably determines out life outlook.

I think it´s acceptable for a small child to stare. If you freak out about staring, you teach the child that having a different colour is a taboo subject.

When my brother was small he once noticed that the hands of our neighbor was white, while his skin colour was almost black. My brother asked why his skin was black, but the palms of his hand were white. The neighbor smiled, and said that when he was small his mother painted him black. But when she was painting him, he had to stand on his hand and feet, so his palms and foot-soles were still white. My brother and I both believed that to be true for too long

Come on, folks, staring is Ok. I stare, it means its fine.

That chinese child alameda mentioned reminded of my own son. He would scream if anyone else out of the family looked at him when he was about 5-6 months.

So, people, lets love and accept our skins. Just dont destroy it with silly tattoos.

 I love to people watch! I think most people do they just won´t admit it!

Hi I am a Turkish man with ginger hair and quite fair skin and I have to say I dislike women with tanned skins and always prefer fair skin, though I do not have many options in Turkey!

I don´t care whether men like tanned or light skin color. I can do certain things to be more attractive to the eyes of men, but i am not going to tan to please someone. I don´t tan because i know that sun destroys the cells and it is the major responsible of skin aging in environmental factors together with smoking. I tan very little when I go to beach, after all it is good to have some summer sun for the bones and for feeling good.

Whatever the color of the skin, i think nothing can beat a smooth and healthy skin with little wrinkles.