How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Made happy in this way by pregnancy, she got sloppy and talked about the wrong things to Alfred. Not, needless to say, about sex or fulfillment or fairness. But there were other topics scarcely less forbidden, and Enid in her giddiness one morning overstepped. (4.9)
Alfred is so blinded by traditional gender roles that he lashes out against Enid for giving him financial advice—despite the fact that Enid has a much better financial mind than he does.
Quote #8
Chipper considered the life of a girl. To go through life softly, to be a Meisner, to play in that house and be loved like a girl. (4.116)
As the novel goes on, we start to understand why Chip looks at women the way he does: He's jealous. He wishes he could be as loved and pampered as he thinks girls are—but he doesn't see the whole picture.
Quote #9
Denise, when her time came, asked to follow in Gary's footsteps, but Enid didn't think that little girls and trumpets matched. What matched little girls was flutes (5.56)
Denise has been defying gender roles since she was a kid, but family pressure stopped her innocent experimentation in its track. In fact, it wasn't really an experiment at all—Denise was just being herself.