How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Commander Root [...] had decided to take offense at the fact that the first female officer in Recon's history had been assigned to his squad. [...] Root didn't think it was any place for a girlie. (3.3)
It's a little hard to tell, but since this idea is coming through Holly's mind and contradicts Root's belief in her competence, it is possible the book is suggesting Holly is imagining more prejudice than there is, at least from Root.
Quote #2
"You are the first girl in Recon. Ever. You are a test case. A beacon. There are a million fairies out there watching your every move. There are a lot of hopes riding on you. But there is a lot of prejudice against you too. The future of law enforcement is in your hands." (3.41)
This same conversation happens a lot in real-world gender problems—is it fair to ask Holly to represent her entire gender in the police force, and, if not, is there any other alternative for changing the structure of the all-male LEP?
Quote #3
You had to be careful with elfin ears [...] No dry skin there. That was because [Holly] had a daily moisturizing regime, not like some of the male LEP officers. (4.62)
Here's where some of Colfer's writing about gender gets a little strange. A lot of the conversations about Holly deal with her being female in a male-dominated field, but here even Holly's own inner monologue is about her being a girl, as though that's always at the front of her mind.