From the first few pages of Ordinary Girls is clear that Diaz’s father is important to her. She romanticizes his college days and association with the independentistas, his love for literature and poetry, and it influenced Diaz’s love for books as well. On page 3, she says, “I was sure of one thing that I wanted everything my father wanted.” She later details a disgusting, “horrifying” man, looking for her father, who exposed himself to her when she was a child. Despite her father putting her and her family in obvious danger, in the next breath, she says “I adored my father.” She loved her father with all of his complexities, even if it meant hardship for her. 

The issue of gender construct is brought up early in the book, when Diaz laments about how her brother gets to go wherever he wants, but Diaz is forbidden from some places because of her gender. She calls it the “burden of girlhood” on page 9. Even when playing cops and robbers as a child, the boys knew they could make Diaz play the role of robber, internalizing misogyny, as girls couldn’t possibly know how to defend themselves. 

The way our parents interact with us has such a great impact on our psyche. Diaz describes her mother’s worsening schizophrenia throughout the story, and several instances that might have escalated her condition. When Diaz’s father tells her she is crazy, or imagining things after accusing him of cheating with la otra, this gaslighting could not have had a positive impact on Mami. 

Lastly, poverty weaves its way through the entire storyline of this section. Diaz’s father would not need to sell drugs, the family would not need to uproot frequently, and Diaz wouldn’t need to deal with being “empty fridge poor” with better opportunities and more support.  A big reason for the lack of support, not that it’s much better in the states, is a lack of funding for  small businesses.