For the Love of Freckles!

Why do so many people hate their freckles? I’m so tired of seeing products advertizing “pigment lightening” as a bonus. Simply Google “freckles” and you will immediately see several articles on preventing, removing, or “treating” them. “Many people suffer from freckles…” some of them read. What? Suffer? Ladies and Gentlemen, I implore you to stop hating your freckles! They are your leopard’s spots, your tiger stripes, your own and unique dappled canvas! I myself am a redhead, and the majority of my freckles are on my face, arms, and shoulder blades. I love them! They are a part of who I am, different from all others.

Freckles are simply a group of cells that produce more melanin (your skin’s pigment) than the cells around them. It is a genetic characteristic but by no means a “disorder”. Sunlight will trigger and darken them, but many never fade even without sunlight. Though commonly associated with redheads and blondes, they can be found in any genetic heritage.

Unfortunately many cultures around the world have long snubbed freckles, so it’s no wonder that hordes of educated, “open minded” modern people still do (though I have a hard time imagining the Celtics having had a problem with them!). It seems the disdain is laid more heavily on freckled women than men. Many still view them as a “blemish”, in the same ranks as a true medical condition (acne, eczema, rosacea, etc) or a scar. The significance of this is that women still believe that “blemishes” are simply unacceptable, and they will go to great, unnatural lengths to remove them. Despite the rise of the empowered, independent woman, we still believe we have to be porcelain dolls.

While a porcelain doll may be beautiful, it is only one kind of beauty. Do we really all want to be the same kind of beautiful? Freckles add interest and detail to the face and body. They give the impression of youth, since they are common on children. Considering how youth-crazy our culture is you’d think this would be a good thing! Men can proudly wear their scars in the open; it makes them look tough and experienced. Why not women? If alabaster skin implies “prim and perfect”, then freckles imply “playful and untamed”. Let women (and men!) show their vibrance and adventures: freckles, marks, and all! We all have stories to tell, so why hide from telling them? Freckles are part of your story. No one else has the same constellation laid across their brow.

An old proverb says, “A face without freckles is like a night without stars.” A beautiful thought, but then again, so many of us live in cities and suburbs now, we don’t even remember what a night WITH stars looks like! But for those who do, or who have seen it once before, remember the awe upon gazing at the dappled sky, a colored star here and there, the dense ribbon of the Milky Way streaming through the night.

This is what it’s like to have freckles. You are not blemished. You possess your own zodiac, your very own Milky Way across your pretty little nose.

©StandingJaguar

There's going to be ads for freckle-erasing creams on this page, now aren't there? Sigh.