Rubyfruit Jungle explores the impact of gender conditioning. From the very beginning of Molly's childhood, she is under constant pressure to be feminine. Her mother expects Molly to become skilled in cooking, cleaning, and other domestic skills in order to marry, while her adoptive father wants her to go to college. Even her best friend, Leroy Denman, can't understand what Molly wants to be when she gets older.
In an early scene, Molly, Leroy, and another friend named Cheryl decide to play nurses. When Molly announces that she will be a doctor Cheryl disagrees, saying: "You can't be a doctor. Only boys can be doctors. Leroy's got to be the doctor." Molly disagrees and insists that she will be the doctor because she is "the smart one." Cheryl counters with, "It doesn't matter about.....
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