what happened?!
What happened to the pale blog?
I deleted it all. I’m sure that this may disappoint a few people (very few) but I don’t think it was achieving what I had hoped for it, and I certainly wasn’t maintaining it consistently.
Looking at the traffic stats, the overwhelming majority of people hit the pale blog looking for pictures of albinism. While I certainly believe that pale is just as beautiful as tan, brown, ebony and any other skintone you can come up with, I couldn’t help but feel like I was contributing to the whole “gawk at the freak” mindset that seems to surround people with albinism. In addition to that, I received comments and emails on a fairly regular basis, either accusing me of being racist or trying to convince me that I should be. Race was not supposed to be the point of the blog, and I really don’t have the patience or tolerance to continue to be abused for misguided assumptions.
The whole reason I started the blog was because I was extremely frustrated trying to deal with daily issues related to being so fair-skinned: I could never find makeup light enough for me, I sunburn far more easily than my peers, and the fact that I’m ridiculously pale was pointed out to me on a regular basis and no one understands that I CAN’T just “go get a tan.” When I tried to search for information on pale cosmetics or skincare tips, all I came up with were sites catering to the goth subculture. While I can appreciate a culture that thinks my skintype is beautiful, I don’t want to dress in black leather corsets or use skin-lighteners. I wanted to create a site that addressed all the typical issues with being pale, without requiring me to adhere to a particular fashion style.
The ONLY positive feedback I got was from people with albinism. While I appreciate the support they gave, I’m by no means an expert on albinism and it’s related issues, and I would much prefer that searches for albinism turn people towards people and organizations with experience. If you are looking for albinism information, I suggest you contact NOAH. They are a U.S.-based albinism support organization, and they undoubtedly have information on international organizations that support and aid people with albinism.
