Why Should We Care About Care? Popular Care-Narratives and the Dependency Critique

• Main Author: Sohn, Jay Hee-jeong
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: caring democracy; chosen family; gendered care; post-human; promiscuous care
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss45/14; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1042/viewcontent/Sohn.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This essay analyzes representations of care and dependency in popular narratives from the Global North, re-appropriating Eva Feder Kittay’s “dependency critique” as an analytical lens. Through examinations of films like Plan 75, I Care a Lot, The Bacchus Lady, Her, I’m Your Man, and La Maison de Himiko, it explores how these narratives engage with contemporary care issues, including the commodification and gendering of care work, fantasies of automated care, and alternative care models beyond traditional family structures. The analysis reveals how popular culture both reflects and shapes societal attitudes towards care, dependency, and human dignity. By interrogating these representations, the essay advocates for a reconceptualization of care that recognizes interdependence as fundamental to the human condition and envisions more inclusive and equitable care arrangements. And also, this essay introduces the concept of “promiscuous dignity” to describe a form of dignity that emerges through caring relationships and mutual vulnerability, challenging individualistic notions of autonomy and self-sufficiency. This examination of popular care-narratives ultimately highlights the need to rethink care systems and practices in light of changing social dynamics and ethical imperatives, emphasizing the importance of care in shaping human experiences and social structures.