It’s everytime the same when I travel around in sunny areas. Mostly I see people from western countries sunbathing and trying to get a darker skin color and people from asia mostly trying to avoid the sun and even trying to get a lighter skin color. Probably the most known reason is the socioeconomic status:
Skin tone is a proxy for socioeconomic status. In less developed nations, the poor generally have to work outdoors (like a farm, for example) and therefore develop darker skin. The wealthy in these countries, work indoors at ‘desk jobs’ and do not develop ‘dark’ skin. Darker skin symbolizes being poor. Conversely, in western countries a tan means that you have disposable income to take vacations into sunny climates or have free time away from a desk job to lay on the beach and get a tan. A tan symbolizes wealth. - Why do Westerners like being tan while Asians prefer being pale?
But I think also that in general a person is never happy with what he has, has also to do something with it:
It is human nature. A person is never happy with what he has. A person does not value what he/ she gets easily. If we Get something without an effort we take it for granted. We always have a wish to have something that the other person has. A person with fair skin thinks that the dark tanned skin is better and he should get that. And on the other hand, a person with dark skin thinks that fair skin is more attractive and beautiful. A person is never happy with anything he has. When he gets something, the value diminishes. - Why is it that most Asians want to get a lighter shade of skin and white people are trying to get a tan?