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The Dignity of Dependence argues that women’s equal rights depend on advocating for women as women.
The world is not ready to welcome women as women; a culture that fears dependence and asks everyone to aim for autonomy and independence will always be a society hostile to women. Women are expected to care for those around them while living in a society that despises need and penalizes those who care for the weak.
The Dignity of Dependence aims to liberate women and men from this corrosive and false ideal of the human person as strongest alone. Leah Libresco Sargeant argues that to thrive, human beings need to exist in webs of mutual dependence, not in isolating, radical autonomy. Women’s equal dignity doesn’t require women to deny biological reality or attempt to be interchangeable with men. Sargeant advocates for building a culture that accepts and celebrates women as they are rather than demanding that women keep their relationships and their bodies in check. The fight for women’s dignity is a fight for a full, human dignity—a dignity that isn’t threatened by dependence. It is our need for each other that makes us human.
"In contrast to the prevailing “feminism of freedom,” the “feminism of care” promoted by Sargeant and her contemporaries like Mary Harrington promotes the holistic well-being of women in the context of their relationships, particularly motherhood. The Dignity of Dependence deserves a place on the shelf of anyone interested in this developing school of thought." —Fare Forward
Leah Libresco Sargeant Sargeant is a writer and speaker whose work covers religion, culture, statistics, and family policy. She is the author of Building the Benedict Option and Arriving at Amen. She runs the Substack community Other Feminisms.
1. The World is the Wrong Shape for Women
2. The Lie of the Lonely Individual
3. Helping Women be Better Men
4. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
5. The Limits of Labor Language
6. Illegal to Care
7. The Blessing of Burdens
8. Choosing to Care
9. The School of Love