Crossing BordersBorders separate us from the outside world; it restricts us with its walls and turns us into spectators of the events that happen around us. Boundaries are a central theme in The House on Mango Street as we witness several characters trying to cope with the boundaries that encompass their daily lives, some attempting to cross them while others are held back by them. A common boundary that manifests itself in the stories of The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek is the boundary between the two opposing genders: male and female. This boundary between the sexes is created due to the expectations and stereotypes that are placed on them, further contrasting the inherent differences between them and erecting a boundary that causes friction between the two groups. This boundary, resulting from the differences between the two sexes, manifests itself in different forms and is broken by different characters in the stories of The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek. The inherent differences between males and females that have triggered the creation of this gender boundary can largely be attributed to the fact that "...boys and...girls live in separate worlds", each group often associating only with their own kind, thus generating distinctions between groups and boundaries (Cisneros 8). Many of the female characters such as Esperanza and Sally in The House on Mango Street cross this gender boundary by exploring their sexuality as they come of age. As a result, crossing this boundary further generates additional boundaries that are all encompassed by this larger boundary between males and females. An offshoot of the gender boundary is the boundary between marriage and free will. In the story… in the middle of the paper… crossing this line and transforming from lover to mother. In addition to the pregnancy, Graciela and Felice also serve as catalysts in her transition as they give her the means to leave La Gritona, the arroyo that symbolizes the boundaries within her psyche; and her abusive husband, and will return to Mexico, her true home. Furthermore, Felice cements this transformation by showing her that women can have a strong voice in a male-dominated society with her screaming and owning a “pickup” (Cisneros 228). In conclusion, we see how this boundary between genders is still amorphously binding as it perpetuates male dominant societies in The House on Mango Street and Woman Hollering Creek in various forms, enclosing women within its walls. Women "to survive the borderlands" must "live sin fronteras (without borders)/be a crossroads" (Anzaldua 38,39-40).