How are women's roles different from men's roles in the novel? What does Esperanza believe the role of women in society should be instead?

In The House on Mango Street, women's roles seem to be submissive under a patriarchal society. Many of the vignettes focus on women who were married young, have children, and are either beaten or abandoned by their husbands. Luckily for Esperanza, her father treats her mother with great respect, and she has a good home; however, she notices those women just a few years older than she is and isn't impressed. For example, in the third vignette, entitled "Boys and Girls," Esperanza explains the following about her culture: "The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours" (8). Clearly, Esperanza discovers this division between genders early on and then starts looking outside of the world of children to discover just how these two different universes exist in adults. One example of how women view men in Esperanza's world is through Marin's eyes, as follows:

"Marin says that if she stays here next year, she's going to get a real job downtown because that's where the best jobs are, . . . and [she] can meet someone in the subway who might marry you and take you to live in a big house far away" (26).

Basically, Marin is telling Esperanza that marriage is the way to get out of poverty and that she'll be able to do it because she is beautiful. Unfortunately, Esperanza doesn't feel beautiful in her own eyes. Then, as the book progresses, she discovers that men can not only be creepy and gross, but also take advantage of and abuse the women in their lives. As a result, she loses trust in men and decides to plan a life for herself without a man. Esperanza explains as follows:

"I am an ugly daughter. I am the one nobody comes for. . . . I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate" (88–89).

She will wage a "quiet war" because she doesn't want to upset anyone or call any attention to herself, but she plans to never allow what has happened to other women in the novel to happen to her. Furthermore, Esperanza points out that men are disrespectful to women because they leave their chairs out and don't clear their plates after eating a dinner that was most likely made by a woman. They do these things because they believe that women should serve men, stay home, and have babies. Consequently, Esperanza decides that one day she will own a house of her own and obtain it through her own efforts, not depending on a man to get it for her.