The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto | Leah Libresco Sargeant

Sep 30, 2025

Leah Libresco Sargeant, a Catholic writer and policy worker, dives into her groundbreaking work on redefining dependence as a source of strength rather than weakness. She argues that societal constructs often favor men, challenging listeners to rethink modern feminism and its impact on family policies. Leah connects dependence to care for the vulnerable, asserting that true interdependence can foster compassion and community. The conversation reveals how understanding our need for each other enhances human dignity, encouraging a more caring world for everyone.

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INSIGHT

World Shaped For Men

The world is literally built more for men in many mundane and life-or-death ways.
Recognizing physical differences allows designing systems that fit everyone without denying equal dignity.

INSIGHT

Autonomy Is A Partial Story

Autonomy is treated as the highest human ideal, but dependence is a constant across life stages.
Framing life around autonomy erases infancy, old age, illness, and caregiving as integral human realities.

ADVICE

Make Work Flex Around Family

Offer flexible, shared, and hybrid work arrangements to accommodate caregiving and family needs.
Prioritize output over strict hours so employees can balance family and productive work.

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The world tells you that dependence is weakness, but it's actually what makes us human. The truth is, you can’t live without being dependent. From the moment we’re born to the moment we die, we’re relying on other people.

And that’s OK! In fact, it’s the way God intended.

In this episode of The Chris Stefanick Show, I sit down with Catholic writer Leah Libresco Sargeant, to discuss her new book "The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto." Leah challenges the lie of autonomy and makes a bold case that dependence isn’t weakness—it’s the key to a thriving society.

Together, we unpack why dependence is not a burden, why our world is literally built for men, what modern feminism gets both right and wrong, and how a Catholic vision of dignity shows us that men and women are equal in worth, but not interchangeable.

This is an important conversation that touches on so many fundamental aspects of human life. Leah is ultimately asking what it would take to build a more caring world where everyone—men, women, the unborn, the elderly, and the disabled—can flourish together.

God doesn’t want us to hide our need for help. He loves us in our weakness and created us to love each other in those weaknesses as well. That's what real love is all about—depending on one another and on God—not pretending we can do it all on our own. This is a Christian reality that secular society loves to ignore.

Living through the lens of interdependence can help us to be a little bit more compassionate and Christ-like in everything we do.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:53 Leah's Tolkien role-playing game

2:48 Why Leah wrote The Dignity of Dependence

3:32 How the world is literally built for men (and why that matters)

10:21 The lie of autonomy vs. the truth of dependence

16:42 Prioritizing interdependence in the workplace

22:18 What mainstream feminism gets right and wrong

30:10 How the cult of autonomy fuels euthanasia

34:39 Why we are obsessed with being independent

37:14 Why men struggle to admit need (and how it’s killing them)

44:06 Leah's hopes for her new book

Get Leah’s book The Dignity of Dependence here: https://amzn.to/4pLjF74

Explore her Tolkien-inspired game Back Again from the Broken Land: https://cloven-pine-games.itch.io/back-again-from-the-broken-land

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