Making and Caregiving

Almost all the artifacts that we value as a society were made by or at the order of men. But behind every one is an invisible infrastructure of labor- primarily caregiving, in its various aspects- that is mostly performed by women.

Debbie Chachra. “Why I Am Not a Maker,” (Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic, January 2015), 2.

In Debbie Chachra’s article she describes why she does not label herself as a maker. She gives two primary reasons: the gendered history of artifacts and the world’s focus on product-centric results. As one of the first readings for this class, I was not expecting a confrontation of the institutional issues with digital humanities. I was drawn to this quote because of the direct way Chachra addresses the problems that affect this discipline, and her personally.

I love the idea that there is a disciplinary field where the humanities meet digital technology. As a student, I am very interested in the digital humanities. Knowing the practical applications of the digital humanities is something that appeals to me. As a woman, this quote shows the drawbacks of entering a field that is predominantly men. The “invisible infrastructure of labor” that supports the current system needs to become visible, something preached by Chachra in the article. 

My family has always been caregivers: social workers, teachers, homemakers. Caregiving is something I value, and something I plan to pursue in my education and my career. It is likely that the phenomenon of caregiving being “inferior” to making is present in many disciplines, not just digital humanities. To see the lack of respect of these types of careers, especially in regards to women, is heartbreaking. Caregiving jobs often go unnoticed because they do not produce measurable results that making does. 

I am interested in learning more about curation. I work with the history department’s SCOPE program, a year-long history research project with Northfield Middle School. I am enjoying the research process, though it is mainly non-digital work. Digital humanities creates possibilities for alternative modes and models of displaying information: exhibits, maps, data visualization, etc. I could see how curating in digital humanities would be equally as appealing.