How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Narrator.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Brienne, I have taken many wellborn ladies into my service over the years, but never one like you. I am no battle commander."
"No, but you have courage. Not a battle courage perhaps but… I don't know… a kind of woman's courage." (40.Catelyn.55-56)
But what is a woman's courage? It's interesting that Brienne is a woman, but because she has associated with a man's gender roles, she can't put quite put that courage into words. This shows that while gender roles are subjective, they do have an impact on how we think of others.
Quote #8
Xaro sighed. "You ought to have wept." The Qartheen wept often and easily; it was considered a mark of the civilized man. (41.Dany.13)
The Qartheens have such a different take on gender stereotypes then we usually see in this book. This shows that views on how men and women should act are not universal but rather subject to the uniqueness of culture—and in Qarth, to man up, you've got to break down and cry.
Quote #9
On the ground the sleeper sat up beneath his furs. Jon slid his dirk free, grabbing the man by the hair and jamming the point of the knife up under his chin as he reached for his—no, her –
His hand froze. "A girl." (52.Jon.31-32)
The wildlings keep showing that gender roles vary from culture to culture. In wildling society, women serve in jobs generally associated with manly men, including hunting, fighting, and standing guard.