Gender and My Antonia

Cather's use of gender roles within My Antonia confuses me.  This is mainly because I feel as if she is not consistent in her portrayal of women.  At times, she seems to adopt a rather "liberal" conception of women, as when she describes Frances Harling.  Frances is a strong, rather "unwomanly" character, who is independent and far less dainty than what I would expect of 19th century women.  Yet Cather's depiction of her is extremely positive.  she is described as very intelligent, and that she was, "as good a judge of credits as any banker in the county"(74).  Similarly, some of Cather's descriptions of Antonia follow this similar vein, as she is described along with Mrs. Harling.  Cather writes, "they knew what they liked, and were not always trying to imitate other people. ..deep down in each of them there was a kind of hearty joviality, a relish of life, not overly delicate"(88).  Her characterization of such females is quite positive, and we are led as readers to like and appreciate both Frances and Antonia, yet these characters break with traditional gender roles.   On the other hand, however, Cather sometimes draws upon traditional gender roles in ways that suggest an adherence to tradition.  Jim, for example, lauds Antonia's motherly instincts, particularly in the way she treats other men.  Jim says, "Nothing that Charley wanted was too much trouble for her.  She loved to put up lunches for him...baked the kind of nut0cake he liked, and fed his setter dog when he was away"(77).  He also says, "I was jealous of Tony's admiration for Charley"(77).  In this way, Jim seems to indicate that he wants Antonia to act "womanly" towards him as well, and later expects her to kiss him.  In these ways, I feel that the Gender politics of the novel are mixed.  While more "manly" women are celebrated within the novel, Jim himself also holds onto certain conceptions of gender roles, and the town often finds fault in the hired girls for being "too scandalous."  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the rest of the novel, particularly in respect to Jim and Antonia's friendship.