The stories about Sally in “Sally” and “Linoleum Roses” contributes to our understanding of sexuality and gender roles by demonstrating a heterosexual lifestyle with females being perceived as sexual objects.”The boys at school think she’s beautiful because her hair is shiny like black raven feathers and when she laugh, she flicks her hair back like a satin shawl over her shoulders and laughs (Cisneros 81)”. The boys and the men in this culture(or even in society today) see women as sexual, lustful objects that are beautiful to look at and to treat as they see fit.
This perception also contributes to the inequality and subjugation of women in this culture and society. Women are seen as inferior to men. They are under their control; they are even married off very young to older men and confined to being a housewife.” Except he won’t let her talk on the telephone. And he doesn’t let her look out the window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is working Cisneros 102)”. He controls very aspect of her life and she is required to obey him. I think the text’s position is that women shouldn’t be treated this way. they should be treated as equals because they aren’t inferior to men. They are also more than just sexual objects and they have more worth than that. I think these stories contributes to the ideas about what is considered attractive and it shows the gender inequality between men and women.
I believe that Sally was considered as a sex figure. She was described as almost near a doll, beautiful yet fragile. This also means that people or the students treat her how they want and when faced with the reality that she is abused, no one knows how to react. This shows that no one cared especially a mother, or in this instance women could not do anything to protect their children.
With this Sally leaves to escape a world to re-enter that world with a different person