No its not pure aesthetics, especially in places like India. More melanin in the skin = more time in the sun = less affluent, some menial laborer or lower class folks who work the land outdoors.
Same reason whites of the deep south, of any class status at least, have a heritage of spending time covered /indoors and maintaining white skin in a strong solar environment. Disassociate from the plantation workers. Then that cultural trope spread to other classes and races. This is one of the main reasons the South is the stroke / obesity / heart disease belt of the U.S. Blocking the sun is the biggest risk for all cause mortality, even worse than smoking.
Same reason pharaoh remains in Egypt show evidence of diseases correlated to low Vitamin D, etc. They developed topical skin pastes to block sun browning. Disassociation from lower labor classes.
No its not pure aesthetics, especially in places like India. More melanin in the skin = more time in the sun = less affluent, some menial laborer or lower class folks who work the land outdoors.
Same reason whites of the deep south, of any class status at least, have a heritage of spending time covered /indoors and maintaining white skin in a strong solar environment. Disassociate from the plantation workers. Then that cultural trope spread to other classes and races. This is one of the main reasons the South is the stroke / obesity / heart disease belt of the U.S. Blocking the sun is the biggest risk for all cause mortality, even worse than smoking.
Same reason pharaoh remains in Egypt show evidence of diseases correlated to low Vitamin D, etc. They developed topical skin pastes to block sun browning. Disassociation from lower labor classes.
The irony
You just said it wasn't "just aesthetics" and then went on to describe aesthetic reasons.
It doesn't matter if they're backed by some weird class based issue (not white supremacy, sorry), it is entirely aesthetic.