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Women play a key role in asserting a sense of community in The Bean Trees

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Lou Ann is transformed from a helpless housewife to a powerful single mother. She had feminist instincts from the start of the narrative, but she doesn't express them right away. Even if the sight of the local strip joint makes her cringe, she keeps mute; she realizes that her house feels more complete with her female relatives there than with her husband; she mulls over her body's power during her pregnancy. Lou Ann changes around Chapter ten. She starts talking about the inconsistencies and unfairness in gender relations. She looks for work and recognizes that she will have to fend for herself. She becomes increasingly assertive, reprimanding Taylor when she does not vigorously defend her rights.

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(Lou Ann shuddered.) “That door’s what gets me. The way they made the door handle. Like a woman is something you shove on and walk right through. I try to ignore it, but it still gets me.” “Don’t ignore it, then,” I said. “Talk back to it. Say, ‘You can’t do that number on me, you shit-for-brains.’ . . . What I’m saying is you can’t just sit there, you got to get pissed off.” (Kingslover 157)

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Women-Lou-Ann+Taylor friendship....comfort..confiding in another woman...women's problems EXCLUSIVELY...uncomfortable...dehumanizing experience...finally speaking up...immediately feeling accepted/empathized with....men..staying quiet for so long.....just going with it....women connection to other women...past or no past....women will understand...recognizing...my experience??...women.

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Sandi -main example of this.....she is almost immediately introduced as a (young) mother......surprisingly she doesn't talk about her son very much....horse girl.....talks to Taylor.....Kentucky, common interests, horses, hobbies, questions, empathy......doesn't feel like a "stranger"....welcoming to women and open about her struggles/how she supports her son as a young working mom.

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-Sandi-personality-young-mother-job-inroduction to Sandi's character

-Taylor-"rebel"-(basically)mother-caretaker-new enviornment-new relationships-building trust through common interests and empathy

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a part of motherhood=sacrificing a part of your identity / women in the novel surrounding themselves with a community of women to feel fuller and fill the void in a sense.

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2-3 Quotes

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2-3 Quotes

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2-3 Quotes

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-Declarative
-Makes arguable assertion that requires proof
-provides an "evidence roadmap"