Quote 34
Who was it that said I was getting too old to play the games? Who was it I didn't listen to? I only remember that when the others ran, I wanted to run too, up and down and through the monkey garden, fast as the boys, not like Sally who screamed if she got her stockings muddy. (38.9)
In some ways, Esperanza still considers herself a kid – she still feels like she belongs to a realm in which gender doesn't matter very much. She wants to run and play "fast as the boys." Sally serves as a foil to Esperanza here. By contrast, she seems grown up and fully integrated into the gendered world of adulthood.
Quote 35
Sally, you lied. It wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally. The way they said it, the way it's supposed to be, all the storybooks and movies, why did you lie to me? (39.1)
In many ways Esperanza is still a child when she's forced to have sex for the first time.
Quote 36
The boys and girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. They've got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can't be seen talking to girls. (3.1)
Divisions between gender are present among the characters in The House on Mango Street from a young age.