Blog #13

What do you think of ecofemisnism before you read, and after? Did you have any strong reactions? What do forms of dominance do you see in the world around you?

Before I did the readings, my idea of ecofeminism was that it was a combination of feminism and the concepts we had talked about relating to deep and spiritual ecology. My understanding of feminism is that women are equal in dignity to men, and there should be no disparity in how women and men are treated. A main issue that comes to mind when I think of feminism, or just issues of injustice in general, is the gender pay gap. There is no reason for a woman doing the same job, with all the same qualifications as a man to be paid less, and vice versa. And yet, this happens. I thought (before the reading) that this could intersect with ecological and green values through the general value of equality and valuing what society tends to under-value: women and nature.

After I read, I had a clearer understanding of what ecofeminism is. My understanding of it now is that it ties together the dominance of women and nature in conceptualizing that both must be respected and not though of as “other” or inferior.

I thought it was interesting to think of women as more in tune with nature because of our biology. I think that concept has a sort of beautiful, mystical nature to it. However, I’m not sure if I agree with one ecofeminist’s view that men are less connected to nature. This seems like it is not furthering the goals of ecofeminism for harmony with nature. 

Some forms of dominance that I see are humans dominating nature, men dominating women, the rich dominating the poor, and the unethical dominating the innocent. 

Blog #12

Would you join the Green Party or not?  What aspects of green values do you believe should be ideally incorporated into a "green" party?  Do these align, do you think, with the Green Party? Also, are the Earth First! activists justified in their actions? 

I think that instead of answering whether or not I would join the Green Party, I would like to reply with whether or not I would consider their views just as important as the views of the Democratic and Republican parties. This is because I have not “joined” one of these other two dominant parties, and instead I prefer to independently consider the ideologies and stances on the issues of the parties instead of joining a party. So, to answer my version of your question, yes, I would and in fact do consider the Green Party’s views to be just as important, and I would and have considered voting for a candidate of the Green Party. I believe that ideally, all green values would be incorporated into a green party, but specifically, the ones that fit within the current way that society is structured. Not to say that the party couldn’t seek to change this structure, but that certain values seem to have been created to radically change current American society. So, the green party would have to acknowledge that they are working towards achieving these ideals without directly skipping over the process. For example, the value of the state having as little power as possible is something that cannot happen overnight, and also something that I am not comfortable with unless the green party could show me how this can happen effectively and safely. I beleive the Green Party has based their values off of green values, so they align for the most part.

As for the Earth First! activists, I do not agree with their actions. While I understand that they are claiming to be nonviolent and only attacking inanimate objects, they are showing a disregard to the people who they are affecting. Instead, I think that they should be showing a “love your neighbor” approach or at least a “catch more flies with honey than vinegar” approach. I feel that they are not in line with green values, especially the ones about solving problems holistically and through synthesis. This form of activism does not seem to have been considered from all perspectives. For example, what if your monkeywrenching is misplaced and strands an innocent person, or regardless of whether the targeted person is guilty, will the activists win friends through these acts? Is it even successful?