Gender/Sexuality in Maria C.

I wanted to post some of the questions that I am going to ask tomorrow so you guys can think over them while reading "Maria Concepcion". I am interested on how gender and sexuality are constructed in this story. I am trying to figure out what Porter is trying to do with the women in this story and want to explore what it means to be female in Mexico (vs. the United States). I find that there seems to be a stark difference between Maria Rosa and Maria Concepcion. While Maria Rosa has more "freedom" in her love/sex life, she ends up dead at the end of the story. She is young and opinionated and risks her life by going to war. Maria Concepcion is holding up the norms that are expected of her as a wife and religious woman, but she becomes a murderer. As a murderer, Maria is protected by the mother of her victim and the community, even though she slowly has distanced herself from her friends. She is unable to have her own child, and takes Maria Rosa's child and treats it as her own. Both women desire a man who is cowardly, vain, and lazy. I am not sure what to make out of all of these things, so hopefully this helps you guys to get thinking about the ideas that are presented.