intro to ecofeminism

When trying to relate to ecofeminism, one recent issue we can look at is the me too movement. This movement really took off after some high profile celebrities made headlines after being accused of sexual misconduct. Like always, it was the men who were abusing the women. While it has unfortunately pretty much always been a way of life that women are mistreated by men in a position of power, whether that power is physical or by status and clout, what really made the me too movement shocking is just how many people stepped forward. The reaction was now not just sympathy toward the woman and shunning the man, but also shock at the fact that it was so prevalent but had been kept under wraps so well. While we knew this whole time what dangers men can pose towards women, we didn’t know just how acceptable it was to actually inflict harm. It almost seemed like it was to be expected, and it was just part of the package that you had not other option than to take. There was not justice to be found until they could all could unite and stand strong together. The me too moment really shone a light on the injustice that women face everyday, however it made it much more real and tangible by including people that you have heard about and highly regarded for years. It was a sobering moment for society, that such an ugly truth was right in front of us all along. In line with ecofeminism, we have to ask how it came to be, and more importantly, why it is still that way. If we are moving forward and time and trying to collectively be more conscious of the world we live in and help maintain, how could we allow these wrongdoings, resulting from an inequality we have all been aware of, exist so comfortably among the public figures we revere so much?

Ecofeminism is a way of both looking at both how we interact with each other and the world around us. When I think of feminism, my mind immediately goes towards issues like hot button issues like wage inequality and abortion, but after viewing the materials, I gather that its not that simple at all. Ecofeminism has to do more with how as a society we have the need to dominate instead of share. Especially in capitalist nations like U.S. we are taught to fend for yourself, earn what you can, and advocate for your own self interests. While that mindset has inspired many innovations and breakthroughs, it also has created clear winners and losers. We think about the short term gains we can achieve for ourselves even though they can be detrimental to the rest of society. When you take the ecofeminism approach at evaluating this, you realize that we do the same thing to nature that we do to nature. How often is it that companies conduct their business in a way that harms the environment all just to get a leg up on earning some short term profits? While the money is short lived, the damage to the environment often is not. That happens as a result of not thinking about the long term, all inclusive picture, but instead the here and now and just your own interests. The same attitude reflects on how we interact with each other, with males for the most part enjoying a playing field that they designed for their own benefit.

Warren’s conceptual connection was on that I found particularly interesting because it seemed like it really summed up what I am beginning to think about eco-feminism. In this Warren talked about how things are often pitted against each other, such as mind and body, culture and nature, and man and women. When put against each other, one of these always comes out on top. While one comes out on top, we then see that “Superiority justifies subordination.” So while we started off with two things that are different, men and women, it came to be that men were then put over women, and from that men held the upper hand and women were knocked down a peg. This isn’t something that we see people out right say, but we see it played out in every day life. Look at the expression “the man of the house.” That sums up patriarchy. While they both have roles, the man as the protector and woman as care giver, it is ultimately still the man’s house. This is something that people have come to accept because of conditioning, so even questioning it requires taking a step back and evaluating how being different could be deemed as better or worse.