Quote 7
TOUCHSTONE
Thus men may grow wiser every day. It is
the first time that ever I heard breaking of ribs was
sport for ladies.
CELIA
Or I, I promise thee.
ROSALIND
But is there any else longs to see this broken
music in his sides? Is there yet another dotes upon
rib-breaking? Shall we see this wrestling, cousin? (1.2.131-137)
Touchstone doesn't think wrestling is a sport for "ladies" to enjoy. Yet, Rosalind is eager to see the rib-breaking wrestling match. So, even before she pretends to be Ganymede, Rosalind defies traditional gender roles because she refuses to act how one might expect a "lady" to behave.
Quote 8
TOUCHSTONE
[...] many a man has good
horns, and knows no end of them. Well, that is the
dowry of his wife; 'tis none of his own getting.
Horns? Even so. Poor men alone? No, no. The
noblest deer hath them as huge as the rascal. (3.3.52-56)
Touchstone suggests that, as soon as a man is married, he is transformed into a beast with "horns" on his "forehead" (a.k.a. a cuckold, or a man who has been cheated on by his wife). As unfair and sexist as it is, this idea is pretty common in Shakespearean drama. In fact, our favorite Danish Prince says something similar about his ex-girlfriend in Hamlet. Check it out:
Or, if thou wilt needs
marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough
what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go,
and quickly too. Farewell. (3.1.11)
Like Touchstone, Hamlet suggests that women turn their husbands into "monster[s]," or cuckolds (cuckolds were thought to have horns like monsters) because wives inevitably cheat. For more on cuckoldry in As You Like It, check out "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory."
Quote 9
TOUCHSTONE
Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it is a
good life; but in respect that it is a shepherd's life, it
is naught. In respect that it is solitary, I like it very
well; but in respect that it is private, it is a very vile
life. Now in respect it is in the fields, it pleaseth me
well; but in respect it is not in the court, it is
tedious. As it is a spare life, look you, it fits my
humor well; but as there is no more plenty in it, it
goes much against my stomach. Hast any philosophy
in thee, shepherd? (3.2.13-22)
Aside from Touchstone being deliberately opaque, it is possible he is just using his balanced perspective again. His ability as a fool, as he has already said, is to see the foolish in the seemingly wise, which extends to seeing both sides of every argument.