Global Skin Color: Analyzing Colorism in South Asia through Nicolas Guillen’s “ Mulata”

Sneha Sharma Humagain Dr. Harris ENGL 2017 23 April 2026 Global Skin Color: Analyzing Colorism in South Asia through Nicolas Guillen’s “ Mulata” The preference to light skin in South Asia isn’t just about an aesthetic choice. It is a much bigger issue within this society that dictates a person’s life since birth. In the streets of Nepal and India, lies a reminder for this, as a contrast of bleached face against naturally darker complexions serves as a daily reminder of the lengths to which people go to escape their natural skin color. The same struggle for identity and acceptance is seen within the Caribbean vernacular tradition as presented in the poem “Mulata” by Nicolás Guillén. In the poem, the narrator is confronting a woman who is using her lighter skin as a weapon of superiority over dark-skinned women. By analyzing “Mulata” and the sociological reality of South Asia side by side, it becomes clear that colorism exists globally, where lighter skin is always privileged. Colorism in South Asia was deeply rooted in the historical colonial period. European people conquered not only the lands but also the preferences and identities of the colonized people. According to Dhillon (2004), British colonial rule in South Asia didn’t just introduce new laws favoring white people; it also reinforced the old caste hierarchies by favoring “Pale Aryans” over the darker-skinned indigenous population at that time. This period transformed normal skin tones into a marker for intelligence and superiority. Similarly, in the poem “Mulato”, the narrator questions the lighter-skinned woman if she believes she is above the “Mulato” simply for being lighter-skinned. This shared history proves that colorism doesn't stem from cultural beliefs but rather from the shared trauma of colorism. In modern South Asian culture, the preference is most visible in Bollywood. The same colonial bias Nicolás Guillén critiques in his poem is loved by this industry. In most mainstream productions, the lead actresses are almost exclusively fair-skinned, often to the degree that it no longer represents any diversity that India has. Directors often cast fair-toned actors for roles having romance, wealth, and heroism, but they cast darker-skinned actors for roles of villains or servants. This casting hints to the audience a subtle requirement for being the “protagonist” of one’s own life. This dynamic is a modern-day version of the woman in “Mulata” who believes her lighter features make her “adelantá" or more advanced than the narrator. Just like how the woman in the poem uses her non-African features, like her mouth and her hips, to try to make it feel like they are superior, Bollywood uses lighting, makeup, and casting to make the public into believing that only light skin is beautiful. By rejecting the woman in the poem and choosing his “Coal Black Gal”, the narrator is part of the resistance, like the kind shown by the #DarkIsBeautiful” movement, which calls for an end to the fairness requirement in the industry. This connection shows ,that whether in a 1930s Cuban poem or a 2026 Bollywood blockbuster movie, the struggle to overshadow the white skin color is a battle for identity. The “glamorization” of fair skin doesn’t only appear in the entertainment industry; it slips right into the daily lives of South Asians, affecting their physical and mental health. When the narrator mentions the woman’s “pasa, colorá" or her "naps" (hair) being “short an’ red”, he is likely pointing out the damage caused by trying to chemically alter her natural black features. In South Asia, this chemical battle is fought against skin-lightening creams. According to Banala et al. (2023), nearly 31% of South Asian Americans report using these products, with 60% of the users suffering adverse skin conditions like acne, sensitivity, and permanent dryness. The psychological effect of such ridicule is even more destructive. In the poem, the narrator finds himself defending his physical appearance because he was told that his nose resembles a “nudo de cobbata” (a flattened tie-knot). This form of verbal bullying is the very same “shadeism” examined by Paudel et al. (2025) when constructing the “Perceptions of Beauty Standards Scale.” As per their findings, these unrealistic standards persist because of discontentment that results in social anxiety and low self-esteem for people with darker skin tones. When society or a woman like the “Mulata” consistently belittles a person's physical characteristics, she subjects him to an enduring psychological burden. For the narrator in this poem, pride in his natural appearance serves as a critical psychological necessity in an environment where his nose or complexion makes him feel “less than.” It is the ultimate power of the poem “Mulata” by Nicolás Guillén that it does not take at face value the woman’s accusations against him. In fact, by the time the poem comes to an end, the tone changes from being defensive to one of celebration. This is because then, he says that "I love my coal black gal / and don't need you hangin' round". This kind of behavior is termed as self-love, according to Badiane (2021), in which it is mentioned that the writer used the vernacular speech of the Black culture to "reimagine identity" beyond Eurocentric notions of beauty. Similarly, modern-day South Asians have movements such as #DarkIsBeautiful and #UnfairAndLovely. The only cure for the “shared trauma” is this defiance of the order in the "Mulata’s" story. As the narrator takes pride in his “coal black” companion, more South Asians have begun to defy the “binary opposition” of pigment-based ranking. Such defiance is an assertion of identity that is not to be washed off or concealed but celebrated. Be it Cuba in the 1930s or Nepal in 2026, the message remains the same: the “prize” is not a skin color that mirrors the colonizer but a soul in love with itself. On the other hand, by analyzing color discrimination in South Asia through Nicolás Guillén's Mulata, one can conclude that the social issue persists as a universal problem with similar historical roots. The mulatto, just like the light-skinned heroines in Bollywood movies, represents the effect of internalized racism in the form of hatred for oneself and one's own kind. Still, while considering the defiant tone of the narrator, it is necessary to point out that the notion of beauty, like any social construct, can be questioned as it is subjective. The combination of sociological findings in the works of Mishra (2015) and Banala (2023) and literary opposition of "Black vernacular tradition" provides an understanding of why representation matters. Hence, it should become clear to South Asian society at large that, much like the narrator in this poem, it must break away from the shackles of high brown hierarchy and accept diversity of skin colors. By doing so, it will be possible to erase the colonial ghosts that haunt their idea of beauty. Works Cited Badiane, Elhadji. The Harlem Renaissance and the Negrismo Movement: Nicolás Guillén and the Reimagining of Afro-Cuban Identity. University of the West Indies Press, 2021. Banala, Manisha, et al. "Skin-Lightening Product Use Among South Asian Americans: Cross-Sectional Survey Study." JMIR Dermatology, vol. 6, no. 1, 2023, p. e49068, https://doi.org/10.2196/49068. Dhillon, Komal. "Beauty Is in the Eye of the Colonizer: South Asian-Canadian Women's Narratives of Shadeism." Journal of Critical Race Inquiry, vol. 11, no. 1, 2024, pp. 42-65. Guillén, Nicolás. "Mulata." Translated by Langston Hughes, Unit 1 Course Readings, ENGL 2017, University of Louisiana at Monroe, 2026. Mishra, Neha. "India and Colorism: The Finer Nuances." Washington University Global Studies Law Review, vol. 14, no. 4, 2015, pp. 725-50. Paudel, Shishir, et al. "Unpacking Beauty Norms and Body Image: Development and Validation of the Perceptions of Beauty Standards Scale." SAGE Open Medicine, vol. 13, 2025, pp. 1-12, https://doi.org/10.1177/20503121251324085.