Gender Quotes in Lonesome Dove

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

"If she wandered off, anything could have got her," Peach said. "Could have been an animal or it could have been a man." (29.23)

Just a reminder that sometimes a vicious wild animal and a man aren't all that different. Both can destroy people and things in similar ways. Why is it specifically men and not women who do this?

Quote #8

Roscoe had never heard of a woman farmer. (37.31)

So, Bolivar had never seen a woman in pants, and now Roscoe tells us that he's never seen a woman farmer. These small incidences slowly ease us into the introduction of Clara later in the book; she's a woman who displays more masculine traits than feminine ones, at least as defined by this society.

Quote #9

"Men have tears in them too, same as you," Clara said. (77.64)

Clara is teaching her daughters that men and women aren't as different as many of them would lead them to believe. She doesn't tell them that women should "man up" and not cry. She tells them it's okay for everyone to cry sometimes.