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.