Gender Expectations

The collection continuously circles around the trope of the deviant young girl as a means to defy gender expectations within the pages of the collection. The first story in the collection, “Georgina Requeni or The Chosen One" sets up clear expectations for what a woman should act and look like: beautiful, docile, sweet. And, of course, eternally young because a “woman grown old is a monster” (39). Georgina spends her youth being paraded around by the President of the Republic like a “bear in the zoo” (12). Despite her beginnings of playing the role of the good girl, she begins to fight the expectations placed upon her in small ways, such as being delighted rather than horrified when the President of the Republic locks her entire family in the dungeon for teasing her. Rather than being a traditionally loyal and loving daughter, she rejects her family ties...