Collectivizing care and the challenges of informal care

Abstract

This article addresses the complexities of care in a lesbian couple in a mental health situation, to show how, in addition to the gender implications of care practices, they are also crossed by other oppressions such as lesbophobia and ableism. To do so, I first contextualize the care system. Subsequently, I talk about the intrinsic relationship between unvalued care practices and how these have been relegated to women, and what we face if women are no longer willing - or able - to do this work. I also start from concepts such as “informal care” and the concept of the heterosexual state to review the impact of lesbophobia on the fabric of support networks for informal caregivers. As a fifth moment and as part of the results, I explain through autoethnography, the weaving of networks, the strategies carried out as an informal caregiver, as well as the lessons learned as an informal caregiver.