Youth Quotes in The Red Tent

Dinah is suggesting that Rachel was a child before Jacob showed up, but his proposal kicked her into adulthood. For women in this novel, sex and childbearing are the primary markers of adulthood. How is it different for the men?

That would be the sound of a man's pleasure. Now, that's one way to wake a girl out of her childhood.

When we're children, it's normal to separate into groups based on age. Here's an example of a clique in Dinah's family. Does age matter as much once these people reach maturity?