Relations between people of different social classes and different genders are themes that appear often in "The Story of the Stone." For instance, Bao-yu's closeness with the females of the family is generally looked down upon. In this time period, is was unusual for a boy to spend so much time with girls. Girls were also raised differently from boys. The boys were sent to school, while girls generally weren't educated. It was considered a waste. Girls were instead taught to sew and take care of household duties. Despite the fact that females are generally not educated, notice that it is Xi-feng, a woman, who controls the finances for both the Rong and Ning houses. Also, it was considered socially acceptable for a man to have more than one wife. A woman, however, was expected to remain faithful to her one husband.
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