During this period, African American women were apart of the 1st wave of the Women’s Movement in defining their “respectability”. The views on respectability ranged from the Club Women to Blues Women. Club Women were out to establish equal rights and change the perception of black women as being prostitutes and thieves. However, Blues Women wanted to establish economic independence from men and take part in leisure, such as gambling, sex and drinking. The idea of “respectability” was important to the African American women’s new identity as opposed to the constructed identity placed on them by white society.
