And the situation is unlikely to improve. It s a strange thing. Maybe because women know in their guts that they are going to be recipients of care, they become caregivers as a way of shoring up brownie points. Women who were touched by or involved in the feminist movement have a greater willingness to talk about problems and expect the system to meet at least some of their needs, adds Carol Levine. But there is still reticence about speaking out, fear that you are being disloyal to family members if you ask for help.
Gender is one of the reasons caregiving has received so little attention.
Legislatures are dominated by men and for the most part they are not as involved in caregiving. Women need to make alliances with male caregivers and use their power to make this everybody s issue. Levine acknowledges that the anti-feminist backlash of the past 20 years may make this easier said than done. At the same time as people are speaking out about how hard it is to be a family caregiver, there is a counter theme being promoted, she continues, that the rewards of caregiving are so enormous, that this is such a profoundly moving experience, that nothing else compares. It s a romanticization of caregiving, an indirect way of saying to women that they re better off going back to this role because of the spiritual rewards.