The New Negro Woman

I began reading this chapter in 'Beyond the Gibson Girl' with few beliefs the 'New Negro Woman' would be much different than the ideal 'New Woman' we have read so much about in class. From the beginning paragraphs I translated what the author was saying as the desire and goal of African American woman to be treated equally fall short. For instance, "Both Washington's argued that black Americans could present a more empowered and employable image of themselves, especially in the New South, by publicly downplaying Jim Crow era acuses while personally committing themselves to racial uplift.. (pg. 50). In Dixon's book The Leopard's Spots, Dixon separates the 'New Woman' and the 'true woman.' The 'true woman' "is essentially white and enables the transcendence of class division in favor of white racial solidarity....By contrast, the New Woman in the novel, 'is less a woman than a feminine dog (pg. 45)' (pg. 55). While the 'New Negro Woman' continued to be treated unfairly, the issues and beliefs these women stood for "epitomized refinement, domestic accomplishment, and race progress," "Instead of the 'selfish' attributes of the 'New Woman' --sexual freedom and individual accomplishment (pg. 59)." These points and quotes presented the idea to me that the New Woman and the New Negro Woman are two different changes that took place between woman mostly because of the color of their skin.