One of the most undermining tones between females and males in this novel is the presence of patriarchy. Even in the very beginning of the novel, the little boys force a little girl to watch them do something quite disturbing such as cutting off a lizards tale. The male figures in the novel are obviously quite dominating especially when one observes their interactions with females. Afterall, the novel focuses on the struggles of a group of females that derive from cultural struggle to establish identity within their modern social system. The quarantine only saturates the darkest nature of man wihtin cultural oppression and rebellion. One of the females of the group, “Turtle” acts as a tangible clash of femenine struggle under a masculine identity as she is a part of a gang. James Diego’s In Female Gang Members From East Los Angeles touches on this clash of gender based identity. This article focuses on the ways in which females become a part of gangs. writes, “However, there is currently such a crush of people in neighborhoods struggling under the strain of overwhelming poverty, that the rhythms and routines of acculturation for immigrants are similarly compromised.” This sheds light on the ways in which Turtle’s surrounding quarantined community cause the pull between her and this gang that she is now a part of. Diego continues, “{…} the males in offhand boastfulways talk about their perceptions of the girls’ sexuality, promiscuity and, of course, their dominance over them (Miller 2001). Gang girls’ contradictory and clearly conflicted relationship with gender equality and deviance deflecting behavioral norms is most evident in terms of their sexual identity.” In other words, the female typically has a role that serves to the male role; typically the role is sexual which acts as the female’s identity.

Article:     http://www.socialinquiry.org/articles/IJSI-V1N12008%20-%20003.pdf