What are the girls doing as they talk about hips? what are hips good for? what does their conversation tell you about their age?

Esperanza, Nenny, Lucy, and Rachel engage in a conversation about hips as they play jump rope. Their many functions are discussed- from dancing, to holding a baby, to simply being a woman because of them. They then "practice shaking it" to the rhythm of the rope and create their own rhymes about hips. The rhymes associate hips with feminine beauty standards and being attractive to men. These conversations tell us that they are coming of age. They are curious about sexuality. They are slowly discovering its power over men but see it largely through the lens of children. Please check out GradeSaver source-link below.