How do both genders in the story relate to one another?

Les Miserables does not focus on gender as much as it focuses on poverty..... social inequality, rather than gender inequality. As a result, the most important gender issue can be found in the effects of poverty. Valjean was a poor man, but he is a good man. His gender, however, determines his punishment. As a man, the fact that he is caught stealing bread for his sister's starving children leads to his imprisonment.... no questions asked, no special circumstances or considerations.

Fatine, also impoverished, is left pregnant, abandoned, and alone when her lover takes off. As a result, she is forced to take any kind of employment left to her. In the end, she turns to prostitution, which is one of the only paths open to an unwed mother during this period. Note, men were not looked down upon for fathering children out of wedlock, but women were ruined.

If we look at both of these characters in relation to each other, Valjean, who understands the effects of poverty feels compassion for Fatine, and in the end, extends that love and compassion to her daughter, who he raises as his own.