in of mice and men the gender who seems to have power are the men. they are the owners of the farm in which all the characters work, they are who tell them what to do, and they are the people who boss the women around like curlys wife. though she should be considered just as wealthy and powerful as curly they just look away when she wants to make conversation with them beacuse they are scared of the consepuences that curly threatens them with. also another symbol in the book that women were not as important were that we learns everyones true name besides curlys wife who was the only women through out this story. also voice in the book i wouldnt say is from anyone in the story. its like it was from an outsiders point of view. if it were lennie and or george, they may have been able to explain a lot more of lennies love of soft things or why he thought it was okay when he picked up curlys wife and merely throw her around like a rag doll. which in turn broke her neck for good and killed her. or at least what he was thinking when she was they third thing he hurt without even thinking.