The Outsiders questions

You have a lot of questions here. You need to submit them one at a time. I'll do your first one here. We do have to infer gender roles and how Pony sees them. Pony is an empathetic boy who sees girls in terms of beauty and sensitivity. His attraction to Cherry is both physical and social. Girl's are a new world for Ponyboy to explore as he is coming of age. He relates to the softer artistic view of girls as opposed to the harsh world of boys. The next question depends on your opinion rather than mine.

What inferences can you make about Ponyboy's attitude towards genders and gender roles? How do you know this? How does this affect your response to the male and female characters?

How do the female and male characters (including the narrator, Ponyboy) in this passage perceive each other and interact?

The Outsiders was written in 1965 (published 1967) when Susan E. Hinton was 16 years old and attending high school in Tulsa Oklahoma. What historical or cultural factors might have influenced S. E. Hinton as she described the female and male characters in this passage? Give examples.

Considering your own context, how would this passage be different if you were writing it today?