Historically, being pale was a sign of wealth or status- A peasant or farmer likely spent their days toiling away harvesting crops, tending to livestock, carrying well water, etc etc. Noblemen or royalty had the luxury of being able to stay indoors and well, not die. The fairer your skin, the less time you had spent in the sun. Women used to famously powder their faces to appear as white as possible- using chemicals/heavy metals that we now know to be dangerous.

A woman kept indoors is also a faithful woman- and the children she bore guaranteed to be her husband's. In China, the practice of foot binding served a similar purpose. It "proved" the family a girl came from could afford to feed her and keep her "pure", not laboring in a field. Because she was incapacitated, for lack of a better word, restricted to the home, her husband could trust that whatever wealth he passed on to his heirs was truly going to his own descendents.

Its all about money and the appearance of having plenty of it.