Real Women Have Curves and The House on Mango Street both center on a young Mexican-American girl growing up in a poor, largely Latino area, of one of the major American cities. The protagonists of the book and the film, Ana and Esperanza, originally try to leave their home for a better life and abandon the culture in which they grew up. Although both Ana and Esperanza seem to, or are able to, leave the area they grew up in for the home they desire they still carry their origins with them. The lessons both girls learned growing up in a Mexican-American society influence their actions and personalities. Ana and Esperanza are both surrounded by a largely patriarchal society, however, by rebelling against the cultural and gender norms that surround them and choosing instead to pursue an autonomous lifestyle, they are able to pursue a future away from the area where they grew up. In both Real Women Have Curves and The House on Mango Street, Ana and Esperanza take lessons from the "trapped" women around them to determine what they want to do differently to live independently of their culture. Their parents' encouragement, or lack thereof, helps or hinders them. In Real Women Have Curves, for example, Ana feels ready to leave her family life only after her father gives her his blessing. However, when her mother refuses to support Ana's rejection of a life close to home, Ana has difficulty leaving for the airport. In today's world, young people like Ana and Esperanza still try to do so