Shug Avery is a black woman in her 30s. She is not a nice person in the few pages, we read she is mean to Celie and Mr.; however, because of the life she has lived she built a tough exterior. Like most of the character in The Color Purple, she is born poor but she changed her financial status by becoming a singer. She has earned enough money to travel and have a luxury life. She has more freedom than most of the women in the book who are home with children and work day and night, which is the norm back in those days. One would say she is very independent and that is different than the women in that period of time, where most women are told what to do by their husbands. She does not let gender role to define her and does not let be dominated by anyone. Shug has always chosen her own way of life. Because of her life of a singer, she travels to different places, so her sense of styles is determined by our worldly view.  Many of the people in her town do not understand that and judge her by how she is dressed and believe her to a promiscuous person. One thing about Shug Avery is that she loves to be admired and she is not ashamed about it. She is not modest neither about her sexual intercourse. She has a number of children even though she is not married.  Shug is the opposite of all the women’s characters in The Color Purple and society’s expectations of the woman gender. She is independent, has her own money and enjoys her sexuality. She does not let people dictate her life.