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Child care, nannying, and race: What you need to know about migrant care work

A SYTYCB entry

This week, I received an email from SC. In this email, SC mentioned that because she knew of my “interest” in migrant workers rights, she wanted me to know that she is hiring a Filipina “nanny” through Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) to help take care of their first-born kid. (Quick aside: the LCP is Canada’s official migrant domestic worker program, where Canadian families can hire women from overseas to work in their homes for a mandatory 48 month live-in period, followed by an additional 12 month period where the caregiver can opt not to live with the families who hired them. When their work contracts are done, live-in caregivers can apply for permanent residency and eventually, Canadian citizenship.  This opportunity is the carrot that draws a lot of live-in caregivers to Canada.) She then ended her email by saying that she wanted to cook a Filipino meal for when her “nanny” arrived and that she was wondering what I could suggest. (I’ve placed this in quotation marks because these were her terms; I prefer the use of the term ‘live-in caregiver’ because this is one of the semantic distinctions care work activists insist on to show pride for their work).

I had a visceral reaction to this email as various thoughts ran through my head. First thought: I had more than an “interest” in migrant workers rights. I have spent the better part of the last decade researching and advocating on behalf of migrant ...

Operation Dissertation versus Wedding Planning

A SYTYCB entry

A SYTYCB Entry

Being neither a sister-wife nor a Kardashian, it is with no small amount of trepidation that I view this whole wedding thing.  It is difficult for me to reconcile my feminism with weddings for all the obvious reasons, most of which have to do with how to “negotiate my beliefs with a traditionally sexist institution,” as Feministing’s Jessica Valenti aptly puts it in her seminal blog post. 

 It is also hard for me to purge myself of the sinking feeling that getting married signifies the end of “my” story.  I remember thinking, even at the age of 5, that it was a damn shame that Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and all their princess counterparts had their ...

A SYTYCB entry

A SYTYCB Entry

Being neither a sister-wife nor a Kardashian, it is with no small amount of trepidation that I view this whole wedding thing.  It is difficult for me to reconcile my feminism with ...