Working Woman in a Man’s World
In the audio story I listened to, a daughter is talking with her mother, Barbara Moore, about her mothers’s career as a bricklayer in Baltimore, Maryland. This story was particularly compelling to me because as an female engineer I am aware of the challenges that woman face working in a male dominated field.
After Moore is introduced, an anecdote is told by the daughter about her experience with bullying in school and how she told male bullies, “you better watch our my mom is a bricklayer and she will come beat you up if you mess with me.” The story expresses the daughters respect for her mother which establishes the mother as a strong, competent woman. It was an effective hook to keep the listener interested.
The heart of the story begins in the middle with Moore describing the challenges she faced in her career and the mentors she worked with along the way. The daughter adds comments that make Moore seem down to earth and emphasize the strength of the mother-daughter relationship.
I continued to listen because I think it is interesting that despite the opposition she faced in her work, the Moore continued to work hard without complaint and become a well respected woman in her community.
The final question the daughter asks is “how would you like to be remembered?” Moore’s answer “the only thing that is important to me is that you remember me” is very heartfelt. This heartfelt moment is followed by the introduction of peaceful music.
The music at the end causes the listener to take a moment and reflect on the mothers response to the daughter and appreciate the mutual respect they have for each other.
The story fixes the listener in the lives of this mother and daughter and paints the picture of a strong mother that is highly respected by her daughter. It uses only concrete examples, such as her mentor handing down all of his equipment to her after retiring, to show Moore’s success in her field.
Overall, this audio story was successful at capturing the listeners attention and relaying a story in a short amount of time.
Listen to the audio story here.
The featured image is a picture of Barbara Moore when she was working as a bricklayer. The image can be found at the above link.
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Barbara’s story reminds me of my mom. She is a lawyer in a male-dominated field of law and I have always respected how hard she works to support her family. I also relate to the mutual respect and love between Barbara and her daughter. I think this story was captivating in large part because you could actually hear their voices. Listening to a story really can give more emotion and power than just reading it.