Gretel Ehrlich opens with a reference to the Marlboro man, a lone and rugged-looking cowboy who represented Marlboro in its cigarette advertising for many years. With this reference and her description of the Wyoming landscape, what effect does she achieve in the first three sentences of her essay?

In "About Men" by Gretel Ehrlich, the author wants to convey the idea that the Marlboro man is just a stereotype of cowboys. She has lived in Wyoming and looks for the Marlboro ads hoping to see something of all that she misses from that place.  

Where Ehrlich states "If he's strong and silent, it's because there's probably no one to talk to", she is saying cowboys are not so rude as the advertising has shown for many years.

what did the protagonist say?

yeah uhm looks pretty good lol