Shug Avery: Sexuality, Androgyny, and Freedom in The Color Purple

Shug Avery is perhaps the most enthralling character in The Color Purple not only because she is described as being this way to all she meets, but also because she exudes a sense of freedom that is exceptional for an African-American living in early 1900s America, surrounded by racism, pain, and suffering constantly. Shug’s freedom is exhibited in many of her characteristics, including her success in singing, her relationship with Mr. ____ who would seem heartless if it wasn’t for her, and her blunt, take-charge way of living. Perhaps one of the biggest ways she remains more free of struggles and insecurities compared to the other characters is through her sexuality and how she shows no shame for it.

Celie falls for Shug before she even knows her, and eventually the two have a devoted romantic relationship that doesn’t lose its love even when Shug falls for other people and has relationships with them. Celie isn’t happy about the fact but understands that Shug is who she is, and the immense amount of love that Shug constantly feels for everyone around her cannot be contained. Shug is freedom.

Shug is the one who teaches Celie that sex isn’t always a horrible, traumatic experience. Up into Celie meets Shug, Celie’s knowledge of sex is that it’s a weapon, and all that she knows about sex is rape. But then, Shug introduces her to her own sexuality and through other discussions about God and joy, Celie begins to understand also that it doesn’t have to be dirty; it can just be love.

The closer Celie and Shug get, the more free Celie is. Shug is the one who convinces her to try wearing pants, which Celie falls in love with. She begins making pants for everyone she knows, and Shug is the one who convinces her to start her own business. Shug is the one who is with Celie when they find all of the hidden letters from Nettie. Shug is there for every major moment when Celie discovers more of herself and more ways she can be happy. Shug is even the reason that after all of the bad experiences Mr. ____ and Celie had, they can end up being friendly with one another and content in each other’s company. Losing Shug brings them close together despite how badly Mr. ____ always treated Celie.

There is a moment when Mr. ____ is talking to Celie about Shug and her androgynous nature comes up: “He say to tell the truth, Shug act more manly than most men. I mean she upright, honest. Speak her mind and the devil take the hindmost, he say… Mr. ____ think all this is stuff men do… What Shug got is womanly it seem like to me… Sofia and Shug not like men, he say, but they not like women either,” (Walker 269). Sofia and Shug are strong, confident, and take no prisoners. Mr. ____ and Celie have to agree that they are androgynous because the two of them are so vastly different compared to Sofia and Shug that they can’t even comprehend a definition for the two women. There is no label for who they are, besides strong. Celie and Mr. ____ are so caught up in their worries and past trauma that they are broken down by society’s expectations. Shug shows them a world they’d never seen before, and in that world, they are brought together despite their differences. Celie and Mr. ____ are not emotionally married, and the closest they get to it is when they both lose Shug’s company; they can finally stand one another’s company. Shug freed them from each other.


Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. London: Women's Press, 1992. Print.