El valor del cuidado
Texto de Irupé Tentorio y Laura Rosso
Mariana es la madre de Amador y vive con él en un departamento de tres ambientes en la ciudad de Buenos Aires. Mariana se separó del padre de su hijo hace cuatro años. Desde entonces, ha estado atrapada en el torbellino de reorganizar su vida diaria. Con un hijo a quien cuidar, el placer, los deseos y la satisfacción personal quedaron atrás, mientras que las tareas escolares, los trabajos del hogar, la compra de alimentos, los turnos médicos y los trabajos fuera del hogar modificaron sus prioridades. Con este escenario de desigualdades y responsabilidades no compartidas, el cuerpo de cualquier mujer es tomado por una inevitable rutina de obligaciones.
Arraigado en el estereotipo cultural que refuerza la idea de que las mujeres nacen con habilidades naturales para la crianza y la maternidad, el trabajo invisible dentro del ámbito doméstico se convierte en destino. Durante 2020, la Dirección Nacional de Economía, Género e Igualdad, publicó un trabajo de investigación bajo el título “Cuidados, un sector económico estratégico”. Según este informe 9 de cada 10 mujeres se dedican al trabajo doméstico productivo, económicamente subestimado a nivel mundial, en un promedio de 6.4 horas diarias, lo que significa tres veces más que los hombres. Si se examina la cifra desde una perspectiva económica, aporta el 16% del PIB a la economía argentina, más que la industria nacional (13,2%), el comercio (13%) y el mercado inmobiliario (9,9%).
Como muchas otras mujeres, Mariana pasó por más de una crisis emocional y económica. En cuatro años, ella y su hijo Amador, tuvieron que mudarse en tres oportunidades a departamentos más pequeños, una vez incluso en medio de la pandemia. Vivir en el barrio de su madre o en sus alrededores siempre ha sido una necesidad, ya que ella es un apoyo clave en el cuidado cotidiano de Amador. Aunque Mariana tuvo que conseguir un segundo trabajo, nunca pudo pagarle a una empleada doméstica para que la ayudara con Amador o con las tareas del hogar.
Nuestra sociedad patriarcal carece de una distribución equitativa de expectativas, ambiciones y realización personal. Este ensayo fotográfico narra el día a día de Mariana en el hogar, a cargo de los cuidados de su hijo y de los trabajos de la casa.
Es hora de poner en un primer plano de la agenda política la distribución de las responsabilidades del hogar. Es necesario reorientar la idea de la realización de las tareas del hogar de un esquema menos individual -y generalmente a cargo de mujeres- a un esquema más compartido colectivamente.
The value of care
Text by Irupé Tentorio and Laura Rosso
Mariana is Amador's mother and lives with her son in a three-room apartment in the city of Buenos Aires. Mariana and her partner, her son's father, separated four years ago. Since then, she has been caught up in the whirlwind of reorganizing her daily life. With a child to care for, pleasure, desires and personal satisfaction were left behind, while school work, household chores, grocery shopping, medical appointments and temporary jobs outside the home worsened in priorities. With this scenario of inequalities and unshared responsibilities, any woman's body is taken by an inevitable mother's routine.
Grounded in the cultural stereotype that reinforces the idea that women are born with natural abilities for nurturing and motherhood, invisible work within the domestic sphere becomes destiny. During 2020, the National Directorate of Economy, Gender and Equality, published a research paper under the title "Care, a strategic economic sector" . It was reported that 9 out of 10 women are engaged in productive domestic work, economically underestimated worldwide, an estimated 6.4 hours per day which means three times more than men. If the figure is examined from an economic perspective, it contributes 16% of GDP to the Argentine economy, more than national industry (13.2%), commerce (13%) and the real estate market (9.9%).
Like many other women, Mariana went through more than one emotional and economic crisis. In four years, she, along with her son Amador, had to move to smaller apartments about three times, once even in the middle of the pandemic. Living in or around her mother's neighborhood has always been mandatory as she is a key support in her day-to-day care of Amador. Although Mariana had to get a second job in a different location, she could never afford a maid to help her with Amador or household chores.
Our patriarchal society lacks an equal distribution of expectations, ambitions and personal fulfillment. This photo essay narrates Mariana's day-to-day life at home, portraying her in charge of her son's needs as well as household chores.
It is time to put the distribution of household responsibilities at the top of the political agenda. It is mandatory to reorient the idea of the performance of household chores from a less individual to a more collectively shared scheme.

Mariana

Mariana sets limits on her son, one day in her 2-room apartment in the quarantine period in the City of Buenos Aires

Mariana prepares dinner, while she talks on the phone and takes care of her son

Mariana, a few days after separating from her ex-partner.

Mariana, one Saturday on the terrace of her house, hanging her and her son's clothes

Mariana, bathes her 1 and a half year old son while she works
On a Saturday afternoon, before they both go out for a walk

Take a walk through the City of Buenos Aires. Mariana does not have a car, they walk by public transport, walking or cycling

Cooking with your child

Shopping in the supermarket. Indispensable

Mariana and Amador bathe together one day on vacation.

Mariana and Amador bathe together one day on vacation.


Mariana sets limits on Amador, one day while they are on vacation

Mariana and her son's teacher, the first day of school

Mariana celebrates her birthday on March 31, 2021 in the City of Buenos Aires. There is a curfew and quarantine for Coronavirus

Mariana teaches her son to brush his teeth

A walk in the Province of Buenos Aires

Mariana, rest