Quote 37
She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse – which is supposed to be bad luck if you're born female – but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don't like their women strong. (4.2)
Even as a child, Esperanza questions gender roles. She also observes that gender roles are cultural.
Quote 38
She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow […] Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window. (4.4)
Esperanza's great-grandmother is the first female character that we see positioned by the window in this novel.
Quote 39
[Hips are] good for holding a baby when you're cooking, Rachel says, turning the jump rope a little quicker. She has no imagination. (20.3)
Esperanza scoffs at Rachel for her observation that hips are good for holding a baby while you're cooking – a task that fits right into the traditional gendered role of women in their society.