Relationships in Braided LivesIn Marge Piercy's Braided Lives, Jill goes through many consecutive and turbulent relationships with men. This pattern begins with her father, continues with her best friend, and then continues through many other relationships during her college years. Each relationship affects Jill and the way she perceives men and herself. She has a very negative view of men. In fact, most of the male-female relationships in the novel are not positive experiences for the women involved. Jill's self-esteem is continually destroyed and ruined by every negative relationship she enters into. Eventually, Jill finds true happiness, but only after these meaningful relationships teach her to love herself. Jill's father was neither caring nor kind to Jill regarding any aspect of her life. He wanted a boy and got Jill instead. He treated her like the boy he wanted. She desperately wanted his love and attention, and she spent a lot of time trying to make him happy by acting like the son he wanted. "He wanted a boy. At 12, I made a big effort... For months, I sat ...