Desert Blood examines traditional gender roles and the price women pay for defying them. In Rubí Reyna, Gaspar de Alba offers an example of a woman who is criticized for choosing not to conform. After the powerful Cruz Benavídez got her pregnant, Rubí was sent away “until the embarrassment passed” (324). She returned three years later and, after taking journalism classes at UTEP, earned her own television show that “focused on professional women” rather than “cooking and fashion” (318). At the Juárez fair, Rubí’s daughter Amber tells her boyfriend Héctor that her mother “hates it when people talk about her as someone’s daughter. As if she didn’t have her own identity” (108). When Héctor suggests Rubí is a feminist, Amber chides him: “‘Just because she has a college degree and runs her own business doesn’t make her a feminist’” (109). This shows not only that women who pursue careers are seen as radical but also that being associated with the feminist movement is undesirable. Notably, though Amber “admired her mom’s single-minded ambition and the fearless way she did whatever she wanted to do” (317), even she is critical of Rubí’s dedication to her career. 

Amber also faces criticism and sexist behavior.