Content Warning: The source material and this section of the guide discuss sexual harassment, war-related trauma, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The source material uses the outdated term “shellshock” to refer to PTSD and also contains offensive and racist language.

Throughout the narrative, Luis Alberto Urrea highlights the differences of Gender Roles in World War II by emphasizing the vastly different tasks undertaken by men and women, and his narrative also works to honor and emphasize the fact that even though women were forbidden from engaging in combat during this time frame, the female volunteers in the war effort endured just as much as the soldiers they were charged with supporting. Also, because the war takes place during the 1940s, Irene and Dorothy are shackled by considerable stereotypes and must endure a range of harassment whenever they enter male-dominated spaces. However, the women’s resilience proves their inner strength and emphasizes the fact that they have every right to serve their country in the same way that men do.

During the women’s training for the Clubmobile service, Captain Miller creates a sense of equality by telling the women, “[Each] one of you people is just as heroic as GI Joe” (25). Miller knows from experience that these women will face the threat of war even as they lack the ability to adequately defend themselves, and she is also fully aware that they will not receive recognition for their bravery in the same way that the men will. However, the mission of the Clubmobile women is “to be big sister, girl next door, mom, or sweetheart to each one of these brave boys” (24-25). Despite their noble calling, however, Irene and Dorothy soon discover that they are not safe from the threat of sexual assault among the soldiers. For example, Irene soon learns to keep her “arms held close to her ribs to block a grope” (283). The Red Cross expects Irene and Dorothy to view the prospect of sexual harassment as a natural hazard of the job; they are discouraged from reporting such incidents because a report of sexual assault could bring down morale. Thus, they are conditioned from the start to place the well-being of the soldiers before their own mental health and physical safety.

Dorothy tries to break free from the restrictive roles for women in war by joining the Gray Ghosts. Since Dorothy struggles with anger over the deaths of her family, as well as the atrocities of war, she searches for a way to express that anger. At first, Dorothy believes that serving with the Red Cross will alleviate some of her frustration. However, since her job as Clubmobile worker is to maintain a cheerful persona for the benefit of the men around her, she realizes that she must find another way to release her pent-up anger. When she meets the Resistance fighter, Colette, Dorothy decides to ask Garcia to teach her to shoot weapons so that she can kill German soldiers. Eventually, Dorothy rejects this attraction to violence as a form of expression and anger management and chooses to fight back by becoming the mother of the baby she rescues. Additionally, her choice to never marry reveals that she values her own independence far more than the idea of bonding with a man, for if she were to do so, the societal expectations of the time would compel her to submit to his judgments and opinions. Therefore, although Dorothy does not take the same path as Colette, she feels encouraged to know that there are women who carve out their own sense of individuality despite the gender roles assigned to them by the patriarchy.