In the early 1900s, the emergence of new forms of music such as blues and jazz brought a multitude of new musicians, many of them women. These female performers, even when they were wildly successful, were constantly subjected to unfair scrutiny and judgment because of their gender, and sometimes also because of their race. Examples of the trials and tribulations that female musicians faced during this time can be seen through the characters of Shug and Mary Agnes in Alice Walker's The Color Purple. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The Color Purple follows Celie, a poor but resilient woman in an unhappy marriage in the South who falls in love with handsome Shug Avery people. singer and ex-lover of Célie's husband. Throughout the novel, Shug has a very lucrative and successful musical career and inspires another woman in the book, Mary Agnes, to also attempt a career in singing. However, even though Shug is more successful, she is continually considered attractive before talented, while Mary Agnes is also valued for her looks more than her singing ability. Female musicians in the early 1900s were forced to overcome sexism, racism, and the unfair reality of being considered based on their appearance rather than their talent, issues they typically incorporated into their music. An understanding of the difficulties female singers faced during this period and the issues they normally included in their songs further illuminates how Shug and Mary Agnes channeled their frustrations at being constantly judged and evaluated on their appearance and appearance. race in their music. In order to prove their worth as musicians, female performers had to not only demonstrate their talent, but also demonstrate beauty and sex appeal. Before jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald became famous, she booked an audition with Chick Webb, drummer and bandleader of the Chick Webb Band (Stone 41). When Ella was introduced to him, Webb refused to hear her sing, as she looked extremely disheveled after living on the streets for years (42). However, when others finally convinced him to give her a chance, Ella impressed the crowd at a local club, the Savoy, and within two weeks, not only was she working for Webb, but she had also found a manager . Despite Ella's talent, Webb did not think she would succeed as a performer, because as a woman, her looks, which were not up to par, were just as important as her singing abilities (45 ). Many other female musicians were also appreciated for their looks rather than their talent. Vibraphonist Marjorie Hyams, famous in the 1940s, realizes the injustices she faced in this regard when thinking back to her time as a performer (Dahl 79). Hyams recalls that as a musician "you weren't really considered a musician" because "there was more interest in what you were going to wear" than how you played (qtd. in Dahl 79 ). Hyam's frank interpretation of the qualities needed to be a successful musician illustrates the stereotypical gender expectations that these performers had to circumvent at the time (Dahl 79). Blues singer Mamie Smith's experiences dovetail with those of Hyams, as she notes that when she first began performing and patrons put money on the table for her, she was told to pick it up "no with his hands but withhis thighs” (qtd. in Dahl 119). The suggestions given to Smith to oversexualize his every action demonstrate that an important element in attracting public attention was an open display of sensuality (Dahl 119). The struggles that Fitzgerald, Hyams, and Smith faced to succeed in the music business show how women were considered beautiful or sexual before they were considered talented. Trying to be beautiful even in dire situations . The first image readers receive of Shug appears on a poster for a concert she is giving, and Celie describes her as "standing at a piano, elbow in crook, hand on hip" (Walker, 25 ). Celie also notes that Shug appears as if “nothing seemed to trouble her” (25). Just as people were more interested in what Marjorie Hyams was going to wear or Smith's sexual actions than in what they were singing about, Celie's portrayal of Shug, which also represents the ideas of the general public, notes that Shug n He is not only an artist, but also a beautiful and carefree woman. Celie's observations also reveal the importance of these qualities for female musicians in order to attract the attention of potential audiences. Similarly, when Celie first meets Shug, she returns from her tour and is extremely ill. Celie notes that Shug "looks so elegant", but upon closer inspection, she realizes that she has "all this yellow powder caked on her face" and is also wearing red lipstick " red red” (45). In the same way that Fitzgerald's managers expected her to look well-groomed even though Shug is about to die, she is forced to maintain her artistry appearances by trying to dress in a fashionable manner. “elegant” and wearing “powder”. and “red” so that the potential audience will always approve of it. Celie's assessments of Shug's appearance highlight the need for female musicians to appear attractive at all times. African American women who hoped to become successful artists had an even more difficult time than white women, as they not only had to defy gender stereotypes, but also dealt with a racist industry as well as low socio-status. -economic that normally resulted from being black at that time. Early in her career, Ella Fitzgerald was not only poor like many African Americans at that time, but she was also a homeless teenager who depended on either strangers or a deserted movie theater for food and housing (Stone 35). Homelessness wasn't the only problem Fitzgerald faced, however. Even after achieving success, Fitzgerald still felt the need to hide the way she spoke and tried to improve her diction when singing to hide the fact that she had never been educated because her family had not the means to enable him to go to school (Stone 157). Fitzgerald's rise from poverty as well as his insecurities about his speech demonstrate the additional difficulties black artists faced. The additional struggles that African American musicians had to endure can be seen in the comparison between Shug and Mary Agnes, because while Shug's dark skin sometimes hindered her ability to connect with an audience, Mary Agnes' partially white status allows her to have better opportunities as a musician. When Shug and her husband Grady discuss Mary Agnes' possible musical career, Mary Agnes admits that she feels like no one would want to hear her sing. Shug contradicts her and responds that if “you dressed Mary Agnes the right way,” she would make “a hell of a lot of money” (Walker 116). She »..