What is the theme in Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna Stratton?

Equality is a theme in the book. One consequence of the homesteading movement was the creation of opportunities for women in arenas like the home, politics, and community, that had been discouraged or outright squelched before. Where tradition would have the woman confined to the home, raising children and performing household chores, many times the dynamic and desperate nature of the prairie thrust women (willingly or unwillingly) into male spheres. If there was an extra set of hands needed to sew corn seeds, operate a plow, or mend a yoke, chances are a woman could and would provide those hands.