Esperanza feels like she woke up one morning and all of a sudden had hips. When discussing this with her friends Rachel and Lucy, they tell her hips are good for holding babies while cooking and "turning the jump rope a little quicker" (49). Lucy says hips are for dancing. But Esperanza, the brain, would rather have a more scientific explanation for what is happening to her body. She asks the college girl, Alicia, for her opinion.

Esperanza learns from Alicia that the bones "let you know which skeleton was a man's when it was a man and which a woman's" (50). In addition, Esperanza claims that hips "bloom like roses" because the bones just happen to open up one day so a girl can have babies. It makes sense because babies need room to grow inside of their mothers. Rachel reminds Esperanza not to have too many babies "or your behind will spread," which is evident in most of the women who have had babies on Mango Street--especially her own mother.

Granted, these little girls have limited resources when discussing the science behind the changes that are going on in their bodies; but, at least this shows how Esperanza seeks education and knowledge rather than limiting herself only to old wives tales.