Study Question 4. The novel, Bless Me, Ultima, despite including the traditions of patriarchy/gender inequality in Mexican-American families, does not exactly reinforce these traditions. In the text it is written, “ … I heard my mother enter her kitchen, her realm in the cas­tle the giants had built” (51). Although it is true, as seen by the quote, that the gender role of women belonging in the kitchen is clearly present, there is nothing written in the book that specifically enforces these traditions. Furthermore, the women in the book do not challenge these positions either, they blatantly accept it without any male figures directly enforcing these roles upon them. Despite the gender roles, the women in the book are still able to be significant