Our Daughters, Ourselves – Analysis

Our Daughters, Ourselves – Analysis
In this short piece, “Our Daughters, Ourselves” by Stevie Cameron the many feats that woman have overcome in recent years are highlighted, as are the many setbacks. This piece is basically a summation of a daughters life from an over-cautious parents point of view. Although this is a short piece of writing, it does indeed touch on some of the sexual differences that still exist in our society today such as male-dominated post-secondary fields like engineering and how equally qualified woman don’t usually receive the same level of jobs as men with similar academic credentials. The piece is told from the perspective of what I can assume is a mother that went through the same sexual differences in her era and is only hoping that her daughter does not have to go through the same hardships, only to find that society still isn’t equal no matter how much progress we have made. Cameron supports her whole piece of work at the end by mentioning the tragic events of the Montreal Massacre and how all of their lives parents have been telling their daughters that they can do whatever they want and have equal opportunity only to have their dreams burned down by a sexist male who could blamed woman for his failures. I found this article interesting as I found a correlation between the reading and many topics that I learn about in my Human Resources courses such as creating equality in the workplace and equal opportunity for both sexes.
Cameron appears to voice her opinion on society view through a eyes that have seen first-hand the sexual discrimination within our society. Cameron’s piece is written in a forward-moving timeline and seems to touch on all the most important parts of a daughters life. Cameron’s voice is calm and hopeful as she articulates her vision of what she wishes society to be in the future. Cameron’s approach to voice is very unique as she flows back and forth between what the parent is saying to the daughter and what the daughter is saying back to the parent through repetition of “they say” and “we say.”
Cameron appears to be addressing the whole public on the issue of sexual difference within our society. Although her audience is vast and is not meant for a certain demographic or sex, I believe it is a unique piece in that it will be interpreted different by each person that reads it. For example, a female reading the piece may fully understand the sexual differences that Cameron highlights and may find it easy to relate to. However, a male may not deem it such an easy task to show empathy towards the situation because they have not been subjected to any kind of sexual discrimination in their lives. Not to say that males don’t understand the differences in our society because they really are quite blatant, I am only trying to say that they will not have the same emotions running through them when they read the piece.
The main purpose and idea of the piece, I believe, like I said in the previous paragraph is to raise awareness. When will society stop subjecting woman to the sexual differences that they must endure? However, I have noted that this particular piece was written right after the Montreal Massacre, in 1990, which is now a whole 20 years later. I feel confident in saying that in these past 20 years we have made significant strides towards equality as a whole in society; racially and sexually. Cameron’s purpose is clear in that she wrote this to highlight the significant hardships that daughters endure during their lifetimes.
The details provided by Cameron in this piece are excellent. As I stated above, Cameron highlights the major points in a daughters life. Starting as a child, the daughter grows, plays sports, attends college, and looks for occupations. These are some of the topics that Cameron highlights sexual discrimination through. Ending, of course, with the Montreal Massacre as the summation that sexual inequality is still present and that it takes such a horrible event to actually realize it.