Como agua para chocolate is a novel written in 1989 by Laura Esquivel. It includes themes of patriarchal structurs of the time and the role of women. We analyse four characters, two women and two men, and how they are described. Our research question is: Does Laura Esquivel break the norms in how she describes feminine and masculine characters, according to the context of the Mexican historical society? We use ideologemes as a theoretical tool in the analysis, to study the descriptions of the characters. We find that Laura Esquivel describes a traditional society, but none of the characters fulfill the ideal that the patriarchal society establishes. We have observed two types of characters: those who break the rules apparently intentionally and those who break the rules without intention. The first group tries to change the society in which they live in, while the second group has confidence in the traditional rules.