As the inspiration for her memoir’s title, the untamed cheetah serves as a reminder of the inherent wildness within every woman. This wildness represents freedom from the constraints of society’s expectations. In her Prologue, Doyle features the cheetah named Tabitha who has been tamed to mimic the actions of a less powerful animal: a golden retriever. Immediately struck by Tabitha’s restlessness, Doyle imagines herself speaking to Tabitha and reminding her of her wildness. She resonates with Tabitha’s longing to roam more freely and sees this same restless desire in herself and the woman who surround her. Throughout the memoir, Doyle reminds herself and other women that they are cheetahs who can exert far more power than society allows them to believe. The deadly power of the cheetah is one that Doyle believes exists in every woman’s potential. 

The age of ten marks a change in Doyle’s life and she explores this pivotal time in her memoir by recalling her own realization of the expectations and accusations placed on women at the age of ten. Upon hearing about Abby’s intentions to marry her daughter, Doyle’s mother remarks on the spark lost at the age of ten that she sees renewed in the eyes of her daughter.