The inadequacy of this couple is further accentuated by the George Murphy's role as Sonny. Sonny understands Sally's love of horses; Sonny can sing and dance; Sonny even plays the role of Cyrano de Bergerac by giving Sally money for her horse actually supplied by Steve. Sonny has all the important romantic moments with her, but the plot seems certain that the dancer must still end up with the Producer. This pairing forces the idea of man as composer and woman as muse/performer. The scene in which Sally "helps" Steve write his song shows how this metaphor is being forced.

Steve tells Sally that she has helped him write the song, but she seems to be more of a child he is entertaining. Do her words "start" and "happy" really help him to compose his song? He is showing off for the new girl and flattering her by letting her help him compose and then sing his magical male masterpiece.

While the man creates her stage world but cannot take part in it, she also has no female companion of her age (both the Una Merkel and Frances Langford characters have been removed from the storyline). The only other friendly women are Sophie Tucker, a performer shown as being of yesterday, and Judy Garland, a performer introduced as being of tomorrow. Sophie Tucker is not paired with anyone on or off the stage in the movie, and although Judy Garland wants to be paired with Clark Gable and is eventually paired with Buddy Ebsen, she is seen as a child and comic, not romantic. Therefore, the only other sexualized female in the plot is Mrs. Whipple, the conniving and manipulative woman. The plot leaves Powell deprived of female friendship, of sisterhood, of a possible lesbian partner. Instead, she must make her way in a world of men.

Eleanor Powell dresses in masculine attire during the course of this movie as often as she dresses in female attire (she dresses like a man to get on the boxcar, pants at the horse auction, spats when training the horse, tails in the end). She is the hardworking woman who wants to take care of her horse and her career, and somehow along the way she meets this guy who likes her dancing. Steve Raleigh and Sally Lee seem to be creating a business deal not a romantic pairing.

In the final number Sally Lee appears with Peter and Sonny all three in identical tails. Sally does not wear a feminized version of the masculine. A whole line of men appears, and she can only be differentiated by a dance style that feels more feminine because occasionally her dance moves show a bit more flexibility than the men. When the female chorus members appear in their frilly dresses, Sally Lee is obviously not part of what they represent. Sally Lee has become an alienated group. She is not purely male and yet she can no longer identify with women (she has no female companions any longer).

This number feels like the end of the show. She has successfully gotten herself on Broadway by training her horse for a race that he won, providing the funds for the show. She has made good in her performance, so the show is a success and she has found her love Broadway and her horse. Still, the musical cannot be satisfied with such an outcome, so it ends with all the leads on stage with Sally Lee and Steve kissing over the horse. Even stranger than the abrupt jump in time to a type of curtain call is Powell's attire. She wears a frilly dress similar to the ones the women wore in the previous dance number, the women against whom she had just been contrasted. She wasn't one of those women in the final number, yet the close of the movie seems to insist that even though she isn't one of those woman, the movie can only end if she is. Although a marriage isn't stated, in her frilly dress and with the entire cast standing around Sally Lee and Steve like a bridal party, a imminent marriage is implied. Sally Lee may show the strength of her lone dancing skills in the final number of the show, but the "curtain call" tries to force her in the traditional position as wife, even though the horse between them makes the scene comic and her change of clothes to something which feels even more costumed than her stage costumes, suggests the difficulty of the fit.