Tuesday afternoon, walking from Reese Phifer to Lloyd, there were a number of eye-catching chalkings. I was taken aback at the words “You’re Pale” and “Hurry” written on the sidewalk.

A little further it said once again “You’re Pale” but with “It’s Embarrassing.” Not far from that, there were a couple chalkings for a tanning salon, promoting a special they are offering at the moment.

These words are quite offensive to the demographic of girls who don’t feel the need to tan. We came to The University of Alabama to learn, not to conform to the idea of what a Bama Girl should be. I believe that my fair complexion and dark hair are two of my best features that contrast to create a striking beauty.

While I am not chalking up my beauty, no pun intended, to be more than what it is, I do believe being pale is not something to be ashamed of. I find no fault with people who tan, and I do not mean to bash the idea of it, but with the sheer number of girls who attend this school who do tan, I do not think the tanning salon has any need to chalk on our campus.

Word of mouth is a wonderful thing, and girls will use it. To use words to cut down one’s self image in promotion is very unprofessional and in short, high school.  As far as the University is concerned, I had hoped that even the school would take offense to a business trying to promote something that is damaging to one’s health.

Are we not here to learn, to get a degree, and to form healthy habits to live by? Apparently conforming to a specific image of a typical college girl is a part of the agenda, too. Yes, a lot of girls on campus tan and, yes, it is common to hear girls talking about how they missed a day and feel so pale, but we girls that do not tan, and do not fret about the darkness of our skin, are here too. We exist, and we are proud of what we have been given; do not cut us down for it.

Kirsten Fiscus is a freshman majoring in photojournalism.