To be different is a construction. “When I was a kid, I thought strange to have freckles once no one in my family had it” said Vitória Baraldi. But normal is also a construction, as commented Carolina Braga, saying that as her cousins and uncles also have freckles, it never felts strange for her, and agreed with Giovanna Argani: “I think freckles are as normal as any other skin”. For those girls, to have freckles is just another body characteristic, and as Isabela Oliveira affirmed, they are one of the strongest. Biologically speaking, dermatologist Daniela Petri explained “freckles are brownish stains on the exposed areas of face and body, which can be hereditary and get worse with the sun light”. To feel great with their skins was a process for most of these girls, and that’s what this text is about. To understand this process and see them just as a part of their bodies. Helena Villar summarized “I think everything that is natural of our body should be treated as something special and beautiful. That’s the way I deal with my freckles”.
During childhood, a lot of them suffered with classmate criticisms such as Rafaela Santos exampled “when I was younger, kids made fun of me, which made me upset. Not because of them, but their wickedness”, the same reason why Rafaella Piragini concluded that her face should be dirty. This non-acceptance at that time had a huge impact in their lives, Beatriz Zanon alerted “I wanted to take them off. Everything because I wanted to follow a pattern”. Marina Marques, on the other hand, used makeup to hide her freckles. Daniela Petri clarified that along with the skin care, these girls need to have a psychological treatment, for them to keep her self-esteem high. Giovana Federighi, who didn’t have this support, searched methods of removing them during teenage years and Laís Baquini went further and started a removal treatment using acid creams at night. Daniela Petri, however, mentioned that the removal treatment usually doesn’t completely remove the freckles, but whiten them and it is only safe when the patient follows the doctor’s orientation.
Laís Simões, the only interviewed who revealed not to like all her freckles by now, assumed “It scares me to think that I can have my whole body covered by them”. All the others (19) announced they like their freckles today. Among them, some reported that never had problems with this subject. Carol Cotes was direct, saying that she never thought it was a problem or something negative to be dealt, as well as Giovana Federighi told us “freckles are a part of my body, there is no reason to not like them” and Cecilia de Abreu emphasized “I never used makeup to cover them. I love my freckles and I will defend them”. Isabela Oliveira declared her love “I don’t pay much attention to rude things that people say about freckles. I love them and that is what matters”, while Yanca Marques recognizes the freckles’ perfection for representing the pattern’s and perfect beauty’s freedom. Nowadays, they often hear positive comments about their freckles.
It is important for people that have freckles to remember some cares with their skin. The specialist Daniela Petri recommended at least one visit to a dermatologist per year, to clean and hydrate your skin and, specially, use sunscreen (inside or outside places). Nonetheless, Helena Villar blurted “I feel bad when my dermatologist says I must use sunscreen, it seems like I need to totally disown the natural tendency of my skin”. But Daniela justified “Normally, people who have freckles have a lighter skin, therefore they have more predisposition to have skin cancer”.
Carolina Prata celebrated that fake freckles are even being sold now, due to the attention fashion industry is giving to them. In contrast, Carolina Braga outlined that she doesn’t know if trying to be something people are not is something nice, and she also doesn’t feel comfortable with the trend. Helena Villar substantiate this choice with a tough argument “Freckles fit the pattern, once it mostly appears in people with white skin. So, that is a differential of white people”. That was the issue that Marina Marques highlighted about freckles on media “Freckles are not well represented. It is always associated to red hair people. It doesn’t show the varieties of skins or types of freckles”, Laís Baquini agreed with her, as long as she has dark hair, darker skin and freckles. As Daniela Petri taught, there are bigger and smaller freckles such as lighter and darker ones.
Carolina Prata sees from another perspective “I think nowadays with the feminist concept strength of self-acceptation, people with peculiarities feel more represented”, idea that made Giovana Federighi imagine a better future, saying that raising a generation of people who question, minories get a better representation. However, that’s not the way Beatriz Carvalho see it “the representativeness of freckles is still restrict and fashion industry deals with them as clothing… ‘It’s time to take on’, then ‘it’s time to take off’, that bothers me”. Vitória Baraldi had a different complain “I saw that freckles now are new fashion… but they are a genetic characteristic, not esthetic”
Another point mentioned during this research was not focused on the fashion Industry, but on the public that consumed that. Caroline Sassatelli questioned “People think that having freckles is pretty, but, when they see a model like that, they treat like something unique and exotic… and the most common thing is to have stained skin” she added “We are in a changing process from a culture that valorizes another kind of skin”. This girl also warned that seeing freckles always associated to cuteness and child bothers her “It is important for us to see ourselves as mature women”. Giovanna Argani doesn’t feel that way, when she justified her freckles love with “It makes me cute”. Carolina Prata reinforced “I see as a charm. It is a singular thing in me”. Maria Allice Freire disagreed “Freckles are not a charm for me as they are for girls who have only a few of them, they are part of my body”. Helena Villar reported “Most of the time, I forget I have them, people that remember me”.
For Caroline Sassatelli, having freckles is “to be the woman we see in the mirror when we awake”. For Vitória Baraldi, “is to know that even your genetic is an artist”. For Beatriz Carvalho, “is to accept and to see in your body a true constellation (…) freckles are an expression of my personality”. This natural beauty is definitely something to contemplate. That’s why Isabela Oliveira is going to make a tattoo to commemorate her freckles or Rafaela Santos manifested she would like to have a bit more of them, and Carol Cotes just returned my question “Why would I take the off? To be the same as everyone?”. Therefore, Giovana Federighi noticed not everything that is different is ugly or strange, if you have freckles, you don’t have to be ashamed of your skin, much less to feel ugly. Rafaela Santos finalized “Accepting us and valuing our beauty is important not only for ourselves, but to the world”.