Like Another Roadside Attraction (1971), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues expresses its social concern through the theme of personal freedom. One of the main plot lines involves the takeover of the Rubber Rose ranch, a women's health farm owned by a cosmetic and feminine hygiene company. Bonanza Jellybean and a group of cowgirls intend to turn the dude ranch into a working one. Their action is a form of social protest against a society which allows girls to wear cowgirl outfits only until they reach puberty, against a society which limits the roles available to women. In the course of the novel, Sissy Hankshaw arrives at the Rubber Rose. Sissy, who works as a model for the same cosmetic concern, was born with huge thumbs which she uses for hitching rides across the country. Like the dissident cowgirls, Sissy's deviation from the norm has...