Only Daughter Sandra Cisneros Summary

For centuries pre-modern cultures have mandated what roles are acceptable for men and women to perform in society. In many countries typical gender roles stated that men were the providers, the protectors, and the decision makers. Women, on the other hand, were considered home makers, caregivers, and were to remain subordinate to their male counterparts. Sandra

Cisneros writes about her experience of female gender roles in her piece titled “Only Daughter”.

This piece delves into the home life of Sandra. She laments over the when her father could not see her as anything other than his perception of what it meant to be a daughter in a Mexican-

American family. He encouraged Sandra to go to college because he saw college as a place for women to

Being only a daughter for my father meant my destiny would lead me to become someone’s wife. That’s what he believed...my father thought college was good for girls— good for finding a husband. After four years in college and two more in graduate school, and still no husband, my father shakes his head even now and says I wasted all that education (1).

The value of receiving a quality post-secondary education is extraordinary in today’s society.

Most people believe that it is what jumpstarts a prosperous future. The fact that Sandra went to graduate school after completing her undergrad studies is a feat in itself. However, in her father’s eyes his daughter could not achieve what her brothers could because she is a woman. Luckily

Sandra Cisneros ignored her father’s wishes and became the amazing writer that she is, because it is what she believed was her destiny in life.

One could argue that gender roles are a part of sacred traditions that should not be broken. If women did not leave “their place”, that would mean half of the world’s population would be at a loss of many great minds who have paved the way, and serve as role models, for the next generation of women to follow and contribute positively to