Response to "People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water"

Hi, this is Carson Patterson.
I found the lack of female characters in this story, and the minimal description of those who do appear, interesting, particularly given that the story was written by a woman. After stating that the Tinsleys' daughter was "neglected, as daughters are", the narrator proceeds to neglect her as well and she is never mentioned again, despite the great care given to characterizing her brother. Also, in describing Naomi's reaction to her new home, the narrator says, "What the wife thought when seh saw the sod hut...can be guessed at but not known", an odd statement, given that the narrator seems to be able to see into every other character's mind easily. The only woman with a substantial role in the story is Mrs. Tinsley, the unbalanced mother who killed her own baby, and even she takes very little action compared to her husband.
This treatment of female characters could be related to the author's seeming desire to describe the world matter-of-factly as it is; early 20th century Wyoming ranch society seemingly had little place for women, so the narrator mostly ignores them as well, preferring to focus on the men who led more interesting lives. Perhaps the mindset which the story conveys of the insignificance of humanity compared to the land is also a more masculine one; even on country ranches, women spent more time inside the home and were less likely to go roaming over the wild country, and therefore perhaps looked differently at the world. (Along these lines, aside from the scene where she throws her baby in the river and a brief time at the train station, Mrs. Tinsley always appears inside the house, in contrast to the male characters, who are usually outside.) These are just a few possible ideas I have had; however, I really don't have a conclusive reason behind the author's choice to focus the story almost exclusively on men.