Growing up as a young female teen came be hard due to the stress and peer pressure of appearance. For teenage girls from immigrant families, it came be very challenging to fit in with the “American way”. Esperanza struggles throughout the book with finding her place in society. She looks to other female role models in her community for guidance, where she finds different results. Most of Esperanza’s female role models on Mango Street have unique stories to tell of their experiences with men on Mango Street. However, they all have the central theme of mistreatment by men and they each have their own way of dealing with it. The divergent responses Esperanza receives from all these females she views as a role model cause her to dream big, not …show more content…
When we are first introduced to the topic of boys and girl Esperanza puts it as “The boys and girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours.” (Cisneros 8). Esperanza doesn't see the need for boys at the moment be the need of a friend. These views change once she meets Marin, who is much older and can grab any boys attention with her beauty. Esperanza experiences a sense of beauty and attention when she is strolling through the streets in high heels with Lucy and Rachel receiving comments such as “ ladies, lead me to heaven” (Cisneros 41) from a boy and jealousy from six girls who watch as they walk by. Later, Esperanza meets Rafaela who happened to be trapped in her house because of her husband and this probably has Esperanza thinking of what her future could be like with a husband. A short while after Esperanza befriends a girl named Sally who happens to be the prettiest girl her age at school. Sally receives all the attention from the boys but is beaten by her father at home because of her beauty. All of these experiences beginning with Esperanza not worried about boys to getting attention from boys is a key and then learning that your beauty can get you in trouble ultimately confuses Esperanza’s views on what to believe about