In "The Stolen Party" by Liliana Heker, how do expectations related to one's gender affect the characters' actions? What cultural values are revealed by the characters' actions that are dictated by gender expectations?

In the story, gender-related expectations seem to affect the actions of some characters. For example, the magician chooses to call upon a boy to participate in one of his tricks. When the boy becomes frightened and loses his hold of the monkey, the magician chides him for his "unmanly" behavior. The boy is perplexed by the magician's meaning, so the magician explains that "unmanly" conduct is "sissy" behavior. Essentially, a sissy is a boy or man who exhibits cowardly or effeminate behavior.
The magician initially chooses the boy because of his expectation that a boy would be more adept at handling a monkey. When the boy becomes frightened, however, he unintentionally invalidates the Hispanic cultural value of machismo, where males are expected to be dominant, active, and fearless. This type of machismo also fuels the independent and competitive spirit of males in Hispanic culture, where the greatest offense against manhood is the failure to act like a man.
We can see this in the story when the boys proclaim their collective desire for Rosaura to join their team for the game of charades. The boys are focused on winning; they are naturally competitive. Any possible embarrassment in having a girl on the team is subordinate to the desire to win. Success is seen as the result of male competence, and it is a measure of masculine worth in Hispanic culture. In contrast, females in Hispanic culture are expected to be submissive, patient, and yielding in nature. Although there are other girls at the party, Rosaura is the only one who dares to challenge the prevailing social norms. She wins the sack race and is far ahead of the competition during the game of tag. Additionally, the boys clamor for her to be on their team.
On the other hand, the girl with the bow exemplifies all that is expected of females in Hispanic culture. At surface level, she personifies all that is feminine and attractive in a young girl. However, her attitude towards Rosaura demonstrates her deep insecurity; to her, Rosaura represents an anomaly in the existing order of things. Yet, because of prevailing social expectations, females in Hispanic culture must avoid revealing their aggressive tendencies to others. So, the girl with the bow uses a passive-aggressive strategy to obliterate what she sees as a threat to her comfortable world; her veiled aggression takes the form of social exclusiveness. She uses her words and attitudes to convey to Rosaura the latter's social and material deficiencies.
This method of excluding female competitors from a social circle is a form of feminine violence. It is only practiced because females believe that they have little recourse in destroying potential threats to their social position. The girl with the bow sees Rosaura as a threat because Rosaura's outward appearance matches her own, despite the fact that Rosaura is merely the housekeeper's daughter. On the surface, Rosaura looks no different from the girl with the bow. However, the latter interprets Rosaura's confidence and self-possession as ambition, and she sets out to put Rosaura in her place.
In all, gender expectations are based on cultural values. From the examples above, it is clear that gender expectations that are fueled by rigid cultural values often result in dysfunctional forms of coping.