
This thread reminds me of something and I'd like to know if it's only in my surrounding that it happens, or if it's a more widespread phenomenon: In my family, adjectives really depend on the tone of a woman's skin. If an ok-looking woman has very fair skin, people (mostly other women) will have no problem calling her beautiful/hot.
If a woman has dark skin, even if she's Eva Mendes kinda hot, she won't be called anything but "cute" and "charming". It drives me nuts and I keep pointing it out to people but they don't believe me. If your skin isn't super white, you can't be beautiful.
I think surroundings matter.
When I was in the Moroccan community obviously it was the same as your experience, but most of my friends are Caribbean or whites who wish they were Caribbean, so compliments range, and skin colour doesn't impact it as much.
But that is a community thing, rather than a larger society thing. Skin colour clearly still matters a lot in what is deemed attractive, otherwise you wouldn't have darker skinned celebrities still having their pictures lightened a hell of a lot by whichever media outlet is providing their pics.