Answer: women deferring to men
Step-by-step explanation:
Désirée's acceptance of blame for the baby's skin color illustrates the theme of women deferring to men.
In the short story, Kate Chopin Désirée was adopted by a rich familiy in Louisiana. Later, Désirée married and they had a black baby. Since she didn't know her ancestral background, she accepted the blame for the color of the baby. This illustrated the theme of women deferring to men.