fair in this context refers to paleness basically. though, it’s often meant in the same way that someone today might say “she’s thicc” and just mean “she’s attractive” in a more general sense. fairness meant beauty to European high society at the time. aside from the obvious racial connotations, it also implies that she has spent very little time outdoors and has been free of disfiguring diseases, so high of status. it generally carries a lot of implications beyond just “white” and “clear skin”. it captures everything that a European nobleman of the time would find attractive in one word.
Love your explanation! The mirror from Shrek would definitely say thiccccc.
Leaving this here for modern contextualizing.
So fair skin doesn’t specifically mean pale, it means skin that doesn’t have defects. Bumps, pimples, scarring and other things will tarnish the complexion of skin.
In this context it’s not racial, it’s colorism as you explained it was a status thing. Something that exists in almost every culture, not just European.
i guess i just assumed paleness 😅. I’ve never looked into it properly. just read a lot of stuff in that general setting. have had a lot of context clues to build a definition around.
but yeah, it’s definitely more of a status thing. just like nails. I sometimes wish people were more aware of the history and cultural implications of the trend and fashions they follow. long nails are a status symbol because the show you don’t do manual labor. so i honestly get kind of annoyed when modern people with super long nails struggle to do their job because they’re unknowingly trying to flex that they don’t need that kind of job. but you can’t very well get that context all across when trying to train someone and they get mad that they can’t do a thing with their 3 inch nails. and you’d be a dickhead to try.
i hate fashion most of the time because it’s like 99% all just about flexing wealth and status and creating a visual representation of hierarchy. the “experts” who follow it don’t know the historical context or where these styles come from or what they actually mean until the very tippy top where it stops making sense to anyone else. those people just look at it and embrace with open arms that fashion is their way of separating themselves from the poors. the more i learn about it the more it makes me sad about the human condition.
for most cultures in most of history, sadly the common standard of beauty was largely defined by wealth. our lizard brains want a partner that can raise a child well. best advantage you can give a child is tons of money. always has been.
fair in this context refers to paleness basically. though, it’s often meant in the same way that someone today might say “she’s thicc” and just mean “she’s attractive” in a more general sense. fairness meant beauty to European high society at the time. aside from the obvious racial connotations, it also implies that she has spent very little time outdoors and has been free of disfiguring diseases, so high of status. it generally carries a lot of implications beyond just “white” and “clear skin”. it captures everything that a European nobleman of the time would find attractive in one word.
Love your explanation! The mirror from Shrek would definitely say thiccccc.
Leaving this here for modern contextualizing.
So fair skin doesn’t specifically mean pale, it means skin that doesn’t have defects. Bumps, pimples, scarring and other things will tarnish the complexion of skin.
In this context it’s not racial, it’s colorism as you explained it was a status thing. Something that exists in almost every culture, not just European.
i guess i just assumed paleness 😅. I’ve never looked into it properly. just read a lot of stuff in that general setting. have had a lot of context clues to build a definition around.
but yeah, it’s definitely more of a status thing. just like nails. I sometimes wish people were more aware of the history and cultural implications of the trend and fashions they follow. long nails are a status symbol because the show you don’t do manual labor. so i honestly get kind of annoyed when modern people with super long nails struggle to do their job because they’re unknowingly trying to flex that they don’t need that kind of job. but you can’t very well get that context all across when trying to train someone and they get mad that they can’t do a thing with their 3 inch nails. and you’d be a dickhead to try.
i hate fashion most of the time because it’s like 99% all just about flexing wealth and status and creating a visual representation of hierarchy. the “experts” who follow it don’t know the historical context or where these styles come from or what they actually mean until the very tippy top where it stops making sense to anyone else. those people just look at it and embrace with open arms that fashion is their way of separating themselves from the poors. the more i learn about it the more it makes me sad about the human condition.
for most cultures in most of history, sadly the common standard of beauty was largely defined by wealth. our lizard brains want a partner that can raise a child well. best advantage you can give a child is tons of money. always has been.