I think it’s more than just cultural. Yes, it’s definitely a factor, and there are cultures and there were times where paper white was considered beautiful.

But I think on some level we naturally associate severe paleness with being sick or non-social.

I say this as the original commenter

Not sure really I am not an expert on this, where I live now and look at some of the wealthy people, they are extremely white like on purpose. Some of the leading politicians too. In fact, it's a bit difficult to find a very dark skinned celebrity or a powerful politician here, there are some but not many at all.

To me personally, I like naturally tan skin (like Asian natural skin) > natural white skin > artificial tanned skin > heavy tanning. Tanned white people just do not look good to me.

If you asked someone else where I live now, I bet answer would be different

To me, something like RFK Junior skin looks disgusting. I always wince when I see a picture of him, like you could make that into leather bag.