Invisible Labors: Caring For The Independent Person

Society has gone global; we are constantly impacted by globalization, defined as the flow of goods, people, and ideas across national borders. Globalization is characterized in two distinct ways: the acceleration of movement across time and space, and the connection of people in different spaces due to economic inter-dependency. The documentary "Chain of Love" builds upon this concept when it claims that "a new commodity has been added to the global economy: care and love." In fact, entire industries are often based off of what is termed as care work or reproductive labor. Reproductive labor is that which is necessary for us to sustain our lives from one day to the next. This work is often subcontracted out to other people. Care work requires

Rivas explains how in American society, rights, respect, and status depend on one's ability to present oneself as independent. This is made possible by the personal care attendants, but the visibility of their tremendous work is often minimized by the employers. The best care workers, according to some consumers and attendants, are those whose presence is barely felt. When the workers are invisible, consumers can feel that they have accomplished their daily activities by themselves (Rivas 75). Care workers and their work are made invisible by a range of factors, including the work itself and the workers' social characteristics and roles. Rivas expounds on this notion as she adds that immigrant women are easily cast into roles that require invisibility because they already belong to a category that is socially invisible (76). We can begin to address this issue by recognizing and acknowledging our dependence on others. By challenging the unequal distribution of rights and resources, we can decrease and even eradicate hardships faced by migrant workers and their families. This process needs to be catalyzed by first making the invisible

The children may struggle without the presence of their mother, and the migrant women may tend to displace their love. These personal hardships are discussed within the introduction and the article "Care Crisis in the Philippines: Children and Transnational Families in the New Global Economy." In the introduction, we are told about Josephine, whose work as a nanny enables her employers to devote themselves to their careers and avocations. Josephine's case is an example of global inequality. Except for one two-month trip home, she has lived apart from her children in Sri Lanka for about ten years. Although Josephine left the children under her sister's supervision, the two youngest have shown real signs of distress. Norma is tearful and sullen, and has attempted suicide three times. Suminda does poorly in school, picks quarrels, and is generally withdrawn from the world. Despite this, it is not possible for Josephine to both live with her family and support it: "She can either live with her children in desperate poverty or make money by living apart from them" (Ehrenreich 2). Within the article "The Care Crisis in the Philippines: Children and Transnational Families in the New Global Economy," author Rhachel Salazar Parreñas provides numerous examples elucidating the reality that when female migrants are mothers, they leave behind their own children, usually in the care