Obviously it depends on your period, but for a lot of history it was the opposite; a tan showed you worked outside in the fields, and only the wealthy and high-status could afford to be pale-skinned.

And yes, you could get things to make yourself artificially pale; Elizabeth I famously used "ceruse", a paste of white lead and vinegar. This was still popular into the 18th century for both sexes, though mostly used as a simple white lead powder, with a red lead powder used for rouge.

Funnily enough, there was quite a high incidence of lead poisoning.

There's an interesting little article here, which cites some sources on 18th century makeup for followup.