I believe The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb questions the traditional view of gender. There are three main female characters in the novel. One of those characters is Cindy, the 19 year old girl that lives in an upstairs apartment, practically alone. She strips to pay rent, and has a husband who deals dope, and is seldom home except to eat or use Cindy for sex. Next to her apartment there is Nica aka Veronica aka Guadalupe aka Lupe aka Cathy aka Carmen aka I want to be anywhere else other than where I'm at because my father deprives me of an education, and makes me iron his clothes make him lunch, and do everything that he should be doing himself including taking care of his child. He is Nica's step-dad and is always yelling at her for not living up to his standards. I think Margarito is exploiting his daughter. By making her stay home and tend to the house, he is already molding her from a young age to believe that she is worthless and her place is in the home. I don't believe it's a coincidence that her sibling is a male. This further goes with their family theme, of the female having to tend to the men. It's unfortunate that the Mexican culture still holds this belief. Most Mexican women are raised to believe that they must give up their dreams, sometime having to sacrifice education and career goals, to take care of the men and always put their family before their own happiness. This holds especially true for those Mexican girls who's family has a strong traditional upbringing, like Nicas. She is treated like a slave by her father. Her father is always belittling her, asking things like why can't she iron right, and if its too hard for her to use starch on his pants? etc. etc. Her father is running her life in a patriarchal form. By denying her an education, making her stay in the house to take care of her brother and do the chores, he is asserting his power as a male.
I believe the female character Silvia plays tries to break away from the traditional role that females play in American homes, as well as the traditional values held for women in the Mexican culture. Silvia doesn't stay home to clean and cook for her husband. Instead she spends her time doing things that she wants to do. She goes out with her friends and does her shopping and other feminine things like spending time at the beauty parlor. She is envied by other women like Mary, who believes that "Beautiful women can do no wrong." (186) This is a value that can transcend different cultures. Mary is always fighting with her husband, and tends to believe that if she was pretty like Silvia, she'd get in less arguments and be able to get away with more things.
Nica is also troubled about her appearance, she believes if she lived in Spain that she'd ,"Have pretty white skin and straight black hair, and I'd listen to music and dance beautifully." It's sad that she has to wishes she were someone else so much, and isn't comfortable or happy being who she is. Her dance doesn't allow her to listen to music, and she is self conscious about her image. I believe this self-consciousness and low value she has of herself is derived from her dad always punishing her and scolding her. Nica should be allowed to go to school, and shouldn't be forced to stay home and take care of her younger brother, she is too young and it's unfair for her to have such a responsibility. Margarito should figure out a way to pay the rent and all his expenses without forcing his daughter to take a mother role as a young teenager. He spills his inadequacies as a Man onto his daughter, displacing his anger onto someone else.
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