Ecofeminism

 😎 Last time on my blog I posted my idea and plan for action for my ecofeminist activist action. I have to say I am quite proud of how things are going and the participation of my coworkers. As the corona virus thrives on, things are getting quite dreadful and depressing, at least in my opinion. Sometimes I feel as if I woke up to a nightmare that has become a reality. Everywhere you go you see people with masks and gloves, sometimes you do not see people at all. Even though this is common now, I know it is what has to be done in order for us to get through this tough time. This ecofeminist action has actually given me something to look forward to and has made me feel a bit better in this time. It has shown me even though we are all going through this, people can still come together to make a positive difference in the world. I will now discuss how my activist action has come to life! 

 

At my job, we bake fresh bread every morning for our sandwiches. I have always noticed the next morning all the bread that is left over. All the bread that goes to waste and we just throw in the garbage. I always thought about what a waste of a substance that could give someone who is hungry nutrition this was. Knowing that it is not summer yet and the circumstances we are living in, business has been slower, therefore the amount of bread and food we are wasting has grown. I talked to my boss and she agreed we could use this extra bread to make sandwiches to donate to our local organization – WellSpring. This would help feed all the children who would normally rely on school lunches to fill their bellies five days a week. I knew this was a very good step in the right direction. Yet we all know a sub roll is not what makes a sandwich. Over the past month or so we have had a sale on deli meats and cheeses, I believe this sale could not have come at a better time for my plan of action. The deal is if you get a pound of meat or cheese, you get half a pound of meat/cheese for free. This deal lured many people in to come to our local store for deli products rather than a larger chain like Stop N Shop or Shaws. When people would order these products I would give them a quick summary of my ecofeminist plan of action and ask them if they would like to donate the extra half pound for us to help make the sandwiches. Just on Sunday alone I got 5 pounds of meats and cheese to use for our sandwiches, which would make about 15 good sized sandwiches. 

 

I was very happy with the reactions of customers and their willingness to help me in my action. It just goes to show getting others involved can really help your plan come to life. 15 sandwiches may not seem like a lot, but I know they will help 15 kids get through the day, and may bring some happiness and peace to the families. It will give the mothers and fathers who are really struggling financially have one less thing to worry about.  I am hoping the word will quickly spread through my small town about my plan of action and more people will come to my store to purchase deli items. It gives me great pride to know my plan has been successful so far and that I am a part of helping those in need in my society. I am grateful for all my coworkers for helping me with this. I am grateful for the customers who listened to me and happily agreed to be a part of this action. I hope we can continue donating to WellSpring for as long as possible, or at least until this pandemic comes to an end. I have faith it will continue to be successful! I hope you are all finding success in your plans of action. That you are well and continue to be well, and that the rest of the semester goes by smoothly for all of you!  

 

 

I have to admit when I first saw the prompt for this week’s blog to implement by one ecofeminist action I was a bit overwhelmed. So many ideas were running through my head on what I could do, how I can make this action come to life and be successful. I knew it might be more difficult now than a few months ago to create a successful activist action. The pandemic the world is going through right now is affecting everyone in so many different ways. The COV-ID 19 Virus has basically flipped our world upside down. So many innocent lives are being taken due to this virus, people are losing loved ones. Not only that I read that around 16 million people have lost their jobs due to the virus, therefore they are losing income and money they need to support themselves and their families. Kids are out of school, creating strenuous conditions for mothers especially who would usually rely on school time to get things done or go to work and make money. I have thought about my potential idea for ecofeminist action for days now. I found the article, “13 simple ways to support feminist activism this internation women’s day” quite helpful. The first step is an important one and helps get your thoughts flowing, “identify what gets your blood boiling.” It made me more upset than anything to learn that many kids were going hungry and not able to get a nutritious breakfast or lunch because they would usually rely on their meals at school to fill their bellies. It made me particularly upset knowing this because kids can not really fend for themselves, they rely on adults to take care of them. There were so many things I wanted to do but in this article it states, “knowing you can’t do everything is a crucial part of effective activism… Remember concentrating on one topic doesn’t mean you don’t care about the others, it just means you’ve made a thoughtful decision about where to expend your energy.”  This quote specifically gave me confidence and made me feel better knowing I am only one person therefore it would be difficult to cover all the topics I care for. After this I knew I wanted to focus on helping out families with kids who are still in grade school, preschool- 12th grade. I knew it would be specifically important to help out those families with single mothers who are the sole providers of their children. 

Now that I have my idea in place I knew I had to create a plan of action. I did my research and found out that an organization in my town called, “WellSpring” which is a multi-service center in my town, was providing breakfast and lunches for the families in need. I knew reaching out to WellSpring would be a great start to my action. This organization not only provides a food pantry to those in need, but clothes, appliances, education and many other services. I know volunteering to help out at Wellspring would be a good start to my plan to help create a solution for my idea. I am now focusing on step 4- having conversations. I know it would be a great idea to get others involved with my plan of action. I have worked at a local deli inside a convenience store for almost five years now. I work with mostly women and over this semester I have talked to them a lot about my ecofeminism class and all I have been learning. They always seemed very intrigued so I knew they would want to help out as much as they could during this tough time. We are very grateful and fortunate to still have our jobs because we work at a convenience store so we want to help out those families who are not working or are having trouble feeding themselves and their children. A few of my coworkers have agreed to help me in this plan of action in order to help donate food and clothes to Wellspring. There is still a lot of work to be done as we go through this extremely difficult time, but I am very confident that I will be able to have a successful ecofeminist action by the end of this semester!

 

Being a crime and justice major this week was not the first time I have read and discussed the topic of intersectionality. Intersectionality can be seen as a large web that brings together the numerous identities we all have as human beings. Some of these identities include race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Intersectionality allows us to see the connections made between these different identities. It shows how these identities relate to domination, oppression and privilege. “Intersectionality is a concept that helps us think about the ways that a person might be oppressed in one category and be privileged in another.” Some may be oppressed in more than one category, or privileged in more than one category. In this week’s readings we see the way intersectionality affects many different women in different ways as well as why intersectionality is important and necessary. Cacilida Cain talks about how ecofeminism lacks the views of colored women. “There is no movement that truly addresses the intersectional oppression black women face from sexism and environmental racism.(Cain)” It is important that there is more recognition for black women regarding intersectionality because they are as Cain mentions they are, “at the front lines of environmental degradation.“ These women are being oppressed in multiple categories. Black women are facing major risks, just as nature is due to environmental degradation. An example given of a major risk to nature is climate change, which will continue to affect these women as it gets worse. “Climate change will affect black women the most as it exacerbates existing systems of oppression. This emphasizes the need for an intersectional, black feminist, environmental movement that centers black womens standpoints to combat these threats. (Cain)” 

 

It is important to realize that life on Earth is all interconnected. Something ecofeminism does is to make connections between our identities and the domination of them. It is important that we have diversity on this Earth; it is what gives us a healthy ecosystem. “A healthy, balanced ecosystem, including human and nonhuman inhabitants, must maintain diversity.” Even deep down in the sea, where humans do not reside, there is still a huge amount of diversity. All the aspects on both land and sea are connected to make the world go round efficiently. Rachel Carson talks about the ecology that makes up the ocean and all the creatures that dominate the waters. Carson asks who has known the ocean? In order regards to the ocean’s complexity she says, “To sense this world of waters known to the creatures of the sea we must shed our human perceptions of length and breadth and time and place, and enter vicariously into the universe of all-pervading water.(Carson)”  She talks of all the creatures that rely on each other to survive. Just as we who live on land rely on each other as well. Yet we also rely on the oceans which I believe many people fail to realize. After all the Earth is made up of 71% water. I thought this article was quite interesting considering we are so used to reading about human beings more often than nonhuman beings. Just as us humans, these creatures also have their own web of intersectionality, that even connects us to them. 

 

Now back to the intersectionality of us. Beverly Tatum talks about the complexity of identity. Our identities are often largely influenced by the world around us. The people we surround ourselves with, the place we grew up, the community we live in all can be aspects that shape our identities. Tatum mentioned some interesting things she noticed when asking her students to complete the sentence, “ I am *blank* “Students of color usually mention their racial or ethnic group, White students rarely mentioned being white. Women usually mention being female, while men don’t usually mention their maleness. (Tatum)” This shows that identities who are often dominated by the other are the ones that were mentioned. Tatum seems to provide an explanation for this, that those who are in a “dominated” or privileged group do not usually mention that category of their identity because it is so taken for granted. Tatum makes a very good point that with every identity a person is defined by there is a form of oppression that goes along with it. “In each case, there is a group considered dominant  and a group considered subordinate or targeted. Most of us will find that we are both dominant and targeted at the same time. (Tatum)” These groups are what makes up intersectionality. Dealing with the oppressions we face in regarding our identities is a physically and mentally exhausting thing. Yet as Audrey Lorde says from Tatums reading, “There is no hierarchy of oppressions.” Tatum goes on to say “the threat of violence runs through all of the isms. There is a need to acknowledge each other’s pain, even as we attend to our on.(Tatum)”

I have come to notice it is a very common theme in ecofeminist readings that there is a connection between the oppression of nature and oppression of women. All over the world as the Earth is being degraded women are suffering from the often dire consequences. I will focus more specifically on examples of cultural and environmental losses that are leading to the disempowerment of women and to environmental degradation. In North Dakota many Native American women were facing great oppression especially by law enforcement. These women were standing up for their land and their culture.  They were fighting against the implementation of the Dakota Access pipeline which would pose a great threat against their water sources, their land and their culture. One woman named Caro Gonzales even said this regarding native american women, “Women are the backbone of every tribe and every indigenous community. (S.Levin)” This makes sense because women are the ones who are gathering food to feed their families as well as standing up against those of higher authority such as the police. Yet it is unfortunate but true that these women are being disempowered by these forces who are taking advantage of them and treating them like objects. The treatment this women faced such as forced strip searches, being tazed and tear gassed, simply for standing up for themselves and their cultures would likely make anyone feel less than human. We see more material deprivation regarding the Chipko Movement of the 1970s in India.  So many trees in India were being cut down, taking away resources they need to live a normal, healthy life. The large amount of deforestation happening was also leading to environmental degradation. Yet, “the women of the area went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting them down.” Fortunately unlike most acts fighting against the patriarchal system the Chipko movement was a successful one in the end. On the other hand we see more horrific acts and treatment of a woman named Wangari Maathai, an environmentalist and women’s rights advocate in Kenya, Africa. She talks of how women are the first to notice environmental degradation since they are the ones most often caring for the fields and harvesting crops. In order to stop the erosion of soil and create more lumber she created the green belts movement. Maathai was constantly standing up for what she believed in and would rally at parks, this led to a disgusting oppression. “Maathai was hospitalized after pro-government thugs beat her. Following the incident, Moi’s ruling party parliamentarians threatened to mutilate her genitals in order to force her to behave “like a woman should. (Maathai)” This whole thing made me sick to read, especially the fact they were trying to get her to behave like a woman should. This may be one of the greatest forms of oppression by a patriarchal system I have read about thus far! This inspiring woman who was trying to make a better life for not only herself but for others was returned by inhumane treatment and disempowerment. I think the most inspiring part of all of this is that Maathai did not let this oppression stop her, it only made her want to fight harder for what she believed in! She continued to grow her organization which created a very positive statement regarding the purpose of the organization, “ The main objective of this organization is to raise the consciousness of our people to the level which moves the to do the right things for the environment because their hearts have been touched and their minds convinced to do the right things, because it is the only logical thing to do. (Maathai)” This woman encourages others to not be afraid of oppression or the fact that the “leaders” of society will try to tear you down like President Moi and his followers did to her. This man wanted to take over one of the only parks left in Nairobi in order to build a skyscraper and a four story statue of himself. (Talk about a narcissist asshole) Yet Maathai knew this would do damage to their environment and their economy so she continued to fight against this ignorant man and continued to take the oppression and violence by police. “Courage, I guess that the nearest it means to not having fear. Fear is the biggest enemy you have. I think you can overcome fear, when you no longer see the consequences. When I do what I do, When I am writing letters to the president accusing him of every crime on this Earth, of being a violator of every right I know of, especially violating environmental rights and then of violence to women. I must have courage.(Maathai)”

This week’s reading written by Nogaard and York brought me back to the beginning of the semester when we read about how women were strongly affected by environmental degradation. Their theories in this essay reflect on how environmental politics neglect gender. The data taken from many countries around the world shows the relations between the number of women in parliament compared to the support for the number of environmental treaties that were passed. As we have learned women and nature have been oppressed and dominated by the patriarchal system for centuries. Due to the domination of nature by men, the women are the ones who mostly left to suffer from the damages of the environment. People fail to notice that gender strongly affects politics. Nogaard and York explain reasons why countries with more gender equality are more likely to protect the environment. “This research indicates that women are more likely than men to express support for environmental protection and that women consider a variety of environmental risks, from nuclear power to toxic substances, to be more serious than do men. (York 508)”   Women are known to be more caring for the environment not only because they are natural caregivers but there has been research to show that women make up 60 to 80 percent of environmental organizations. Therefore if women were more often in positions of power specifically in Parliament, it would be more likely that environmental treaties would be ratified. “We consider the percentage of women in Parliament as a key indicator of a nation’s gender politics. (York 511.)” In the reading they take two modernized countries -Norway and Singapore. Norway had very high representation of women in power and had ratified 13 out of the 16 treaties. Whereas on the other hand in Singapore women held a very small role in Parliament and only ratified 4 out of the 16. All the data and research shown shows the impact women can have on influencing state policies and therefore state environmentalism. “The results of our analysis suggest that gender differences in environmental concern , risk perception and social movement participation may have broader social implications, such as potentially influencing state policy. (York 514)”

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2017/03/womens-political-parity-slow-to-grow-as-un-launches-latest-women-in-politics-map/

 

I choose this first source above because it shows a colorful map of the world indicating women in different ranks of power in politics. It shows women who are the highest head possible, women who are speakers in parliament as well as women who are prime ministers. In the York and Nogaard essay they say  This relates strongly to the article because it talks of how if more women had political power more environmental treaties would be passed. Not only that the environment would be more cared for and risks regarding the environment would be addressed. These results are from 2017 and below they mention that the women representation in politics globally has gone down a bit. It is important to try and keep women in power more often. “Increased representation of women in government might be expected to influence the behavior of nation states with respect to the environment.( York 509)

https://buzzonearth.com/dr-gro-harlem-brundtland-mother-of-sustainability/

I choose this second source because I was quite inspired after reading about Gro Harlem Brundtland. I had never heard of her before but when I did more research on her I learned she was known as the ““mother” of sustainable development.” I believe she is the perfect example to show that women in politics affect state environmentalism. She was the prime minister of Norway for ten years. This source talks about Bruntlands life and all she has done for Norway regarding positive change and influence of the environment. “Gro Harlem Brundtland, probably one of Norway’s most popular and influential political leaders in recent times. (York 516)” She cared not only about the citizens of Norway but about their future generations. 

 

(Sorry it is so blurry, not sure why! Please click linkbelow to see better image!)

https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/gender-differences-in-public-understanding-of-climate-change/

I choose this statistic because it clearly shows the gender difference regarding the damages happening to the environment. In the reading they mention that women are more likely to acknowledge and care about risks happening to the environment. Women also are more concerned about harming others as well. Global warming is one of, if not the biggest problem happening to our environment. This illustration shows that women understand and believe in ALL the risks happening to the environment over men. “Consistent gender differences have been noted in the related areas of values and attitudes toward the environment, perception of environmental risks and social movement participation.(York 508)”

 As we all know abortion is a very touchy subject for conversation. Especially for the women who make the very personal decision to have one. Many of the reasons women have an abortion are very personal and private. One may feel they are not at the right time in their life for a baby, or maybe something more tragic has happened to them like getting pregant from a rape or other traumautizing scenario. I personally believe every women should have the right to a legal and safe abortion. I believe it is no one’s business as to why she made this decision either. I agree with the point Jessica Valenti makes that “the right to an abortion is fundamental to womens equality, not just our privacy.(Valenti)” Yet it is hard for many people living in a patriarchal society to agree that abortion falls under being part of equality. Hawkins bring another very different reason from an ecofeminist view as to why abortion should be seen as the real “pro-life” choice and why all women around the world should be able to have one. Even though I believe many people would not choose to have an abortion in order to help save the environment, I do agree with her argument. I believe it is another good reason to support safe and legal abortions for all women that most people would not think of. Hawkins makes it clear that bringing another life into our world will make impacts on both feminism and the environment.  I was shocked when I went to the Worldometer website and saw how our world population was constantly rising and at such a quick rate, right this second as I look at it, it reads 7,770,698, 842. The death count was pretty quick to but definitely not as fast as the birth count. When Hawkins wrote this article in 1993 she stated that the population was between 5 to 6 billion, so this means in the past 27 years the world population has increased by around 2 BILLION PEOPLE!! “The links between population growth, poverty and environmental degradation are becoming increasingly well documented.(Hawkins)” It is clear to see that the more people being born the more resources will be used from our Earth. This easily leads to the degradation of nature and increase in poverty especially in third world countries. Many women are trying to limit the number of children they have in order to be able to support their family properly and in a healthy manner. “Women, bearing an increasingly large share of the burden of poverty, are increasingly seeking to limit their family size, but for institutional or social reasons, they are denied access to the means for doing so.(Hawkins)” I believe this is very unfair because of “social” reasons women are not allowed to do what they feel is personally best for themselves as well as their families. Hawkins also makes a good point in that the human population growth is also creating problems for nonhuman animals. The more people on Earth the more land is being used, forests cut down to build homes, taking away the necessities animals need to live which can even lead to their deaths and even more serve the extinction of a species. Although abortion should be available for every women in every country, it is important for women in less industrialized countires to have access to this. Hawkins makes the point that smaller family sizes are wanted but forms of contraceptive are “unfamiliar or unavailable” in some places. People in more industrialized countries such as America are responsible for a large portion of the consumption of natural resources and stress on the environment. “As a back up to contraception,abortion plays an important role in limiting the ecologically damagine effects of the human population in all parts of the globe.(Hawkins)”  Even though for this being a reason for women to have an abortion seems very far fetched it does make sense. It is our nature to make our own decisions in life and I support Hawkins reasoning and especially any woman’s choice to do what she wants with her body!

Economists are quite concerned with the objectification of women and nonhuman animals. So many advertisements we see today on billboards, television and in media online are objectifying women and animals. Women and nonhuman animals are being consumed by the consumers, which are most often middle class white, men. Images are chosen carefully and with purpose to draw the attention of the consumers. A Adams says, “viewing other beings as consumable is a central aspect to our culture…viewing some individuals as consumable is so central to Western culture that most of us fail to notice it. (Kemmerer)” We often shrug off the fact that humans and animals are being degraded so obviously. This first image stood out to me for a few reasons. Here we see a cow, which would normally be a quite large animal, looking rather thin. This cow is in a seductive pose with her legs crossed and red lipstick. The part of this image that struck me the most was the tape measure wrapped around the cows waste. As we know from our societal standards, most men want women to look and act a certain way. Many women struggle with their body images as well and often feel they are not good enough for male consumers. The cow is clearly being sexualized by the way it is posing.  As Adams mentions, “animals are assumed to want it like women. One can consume either a pig or a woman. One can exploit and destroy a calf or a woman.(Kemmerer)” We can assume that this was the intention of the creator of this image. It is a way to objectify women without being so upfront about it because they are using an image of a cow. 

This next photo I choose can relate back to what I said about animals, “wanting” it like women. This sticker is most likely on the back of white man’s truck, the consumer. This sticker 

is ironic and I am sure to some suppose to be comical. This bumper sticker is comparing a nonhuman animal, a deer, to a woman. Once again an animal is being sexualized. This sticker makes the wrongful assumption that women are always horny, that they want it. Assuming women are constantly “horny” can lead to violence and things such as rape or sexual assault.  

In this photo instead of seeing a living cow posing in a feminine way with lipstick, we see a dead piece of meat with a belly shirt and a jean skirt. The quote at the bottom states, “it’s not acceptable to treat a woman like one.” I am not sure exactly what kind of animal this is coming from but we can assume it means do not treat a woman like a piece of meat. Yet the fact this raw piece of meat is dressed in womens clothing is quite disturbing to me.  The process it took of butchering this animal and then dressing it up is objectifying both woman and nonhumans. When looking at this picture we could question why use a picture of raw meat? Adams answers this question herself, “It is as though through the use of raw meat there’s some sort of fantasy that one can experience life again as, “raw, fresh, and tasty. (Adams)” There seems to be some irony here saying giving positive connotations to the raw meat. Clearly seeing an image of raw meat may be alluring to consumers. Yet for the women, who are being consumed, and who are being compared to a piece of raw meat, they would not be flattered. Here we see, once again a nonhuman animal being sexualized wearing a belly shirt and skirt. “Animalizing women and feminizing animals helps in this process (cultural consuming) because it renders women and dead animals used as flesh as commodities.(Adams)” 

I choose this picture of Pamela Anderson, where they break down her body parts into different portions. This photo is telling people to go vegetarian, yes this could be a positive thing, that would end the suffering of nonhuman animals. Yet this picture says clearly, “ALL ANIMALS, have the same parts.” This is animalizing women at its finest, saying all women are animals. Clearly we can see that men would be the main consumer here and the women being consumed. I chose this photo also because Adams is asked about a photo like this in her interview. She talks about PETA directly saying, “Everytime PETA uses a naked or nearly-naked woman to advertise anima;s’ concerns it not only benefits from sezual inequality, it also unwittingly demonstrates the intransigence of species inequality. (Adams)” 

 

Citations-

 

Kemmerer L, “The Pornography of Meat by Carol Adams”, Philoshpy Now Issue 56

Potts, Annie, Adams, Carol “The Politics of Carol J Adams” 

I believe this image can show many things regarding the ecofeminist view on nonhuman animals. I believe this image was chosen for this section because it shows the violence and oppression nonhuman animals face by humans. We see a knife going through this piece of meat, clearly this animal is dead and now ready to be eaten by humans. We see the little human figure cutting the meating into slices. I believe this shows that animals are oppressed and exploited even after they are killed. This can show the connection between the oppression of women and the oppression of nonhuman animals. In Curtin’s piece she talks about another author Carol Adam and her piece “The Sexual Politics of Meat.” In this she presents, “the connection of women and animals through pornographic representations of women as “meat” ready to be carved up.(Curtin)” Even though women are compared to meat in the previous statement. It is more common that meat is used when describing men or masculinity. Most people have this perceived idea that if a man eats meat they are more masculine. In the Eisenberg piece he talks about the issues of this quite false perception, “The strongly pronounced gender-food linkage presents a dilemma for traditionally masculine persons when it comes to deciding what to eat. (Eisenberg)” In Curtains piece she talks about how meat is often given positive connotations, for example if someone said “that was a meaty question!” they would mean it was a good and dense question. She then says, “men, athletes and soldiers in particular are associated with red meat and activity(to have muscle you need to eat muscle, whereas women are associated with vegetables and passivity. (Curtin)” This statement is another example of gendered foods, relating women to vegetables. As Curtin said vegetables seem more passive which can say a lot about the oppression of women and their subordination. In Curtains piece she mentioned she is a vegetarian and mentions an ecofeminism concern about what humans are willing to eat and consider as food. She believes vegetarianism can be seen as an ecofeminist ethic of care. Being a vegetarian shows a strong care and sympathy for nonhuman animals. She even says on vegetarianism, “Moral vegetarianism is a fruitful issue for ecofeminists to explore in developing an ecological ethics because in judging the adequacy of an ethic by reference to its understanding of food one draws attention to precisely those aspects of daily experience that have often been regarded as beneath the interest of philosophy. (Curtin)” What she means by this is basically that issues regarding food seem to be sort of swept under the rug by philosophers but vegetarianism can help ecofeminists bring these issues to light. She mentions that she is aware that depending on where you  live the choice of being a vegetarian may be out of the option, she gives the example of the Ihalmiut people.There land is frozen so they are unable to grow vegetables so they rely on deer for subsistence. Yet these people have traditions of thanking the deer for giving them life. People of other cultures often have traditions like this in order to show their strong appreciation for the animal giving them food. She mentions how killing animals for food when there is a choice and inflicts pain on them is unnecessary. She then mentions how this violence against animals affects us. “An ecofeminist perspective emphasizes that one’s body is oneself and that by inflicting violence needlessly, one’s bodily self becomes a context for violence.(Curtin)” In the Gaard piece she talks about the linkage ecofeminists see between sexism and speciesism as well as the oppression of animals and women. She goes into describing the different forms of oppression that animals and women often face- exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism and violence. She also mentions that, “ecofeminists have investigated the ways that nonhuman animals function as an exploited underclass of workers whose “jobs’ ‘ end up costing them their lives. (Gaard)” This explains the oppression nonhuman animals face by humans that often end up to their death. Just as Curtin does, Gaard also talks about vegetarianism and that by choosing this lifestyle is helping to end suffering for many animals. Throughout the whole story Gaard is talking about her compassion for Bella the bird and how she wanted her to live in better conditions. “To intervene successfully, ecofeminist activists need to bring an awareness of the ways that oppression reduces the humanity of the oppressor at the same time that it subjugates the oppressed.(Gaard)”

 

Every place we pass by in our lives has a story whether we know it or not. These pictures I choose represent the story of my life. As Terry Williams says, “Story offers a wash of images and emotions that returns us to our highest and deepest selves, where we remember what it means to be human, living in place with our neighbors.(Williams3)” I live in a small town south of Boston, a beach town called Hull, or better known as Nantasket beach. It is a town filled with history and beautiful sites to see. These pictures were taking right down the street from my house. Where my friends and I climbed thousands of times over the sand dunes and onto the sandy beach. Squishy are toes between the sand and washing them off in the salty ocean. Splashing around in the waves without a worry in the world. So many memories of my life were made at this beach that I will never forget. After living here my whole life I cannot imagine not living near the water. It brings me peace and serenity being able to walk along the beach and breath in the scent of the ocean as I watch the sunrise and set. Unfortunately more and more commercial properties are taking over my small town to increase revenue. My town is definitely a tourist attraction in the summer which is another reason more businesses want to open here. This may seem like a positive thing for some people since it will make them money. Yet those like myself who have lived in Hull our whole lives are getting upset with this commercial take over. Tearing down trees to make and other landmarks in order to build more beachfront properties for people who will never appreciate the beauty of this town as much as “Hullonians’  do. Although my town is much different from Williams life in southern Utah and I definitely am nowhere close to living in a canyon or desert, I believe it can function as her bedrock of democracy.  Many people in my town are coming together just as Williams said, “standing our ground in the places we love, together.(Williams 19)” We may not have the same issues environmental, yet there are still problems here. One of our biggest is the ignorance of many tourists who leave behind trash on our beaches. We come together and do our “homework” to take care of our beautiful home. “Homework is required, a participation in public life to make certain all is not destroyed under the banner of progress, expediency or ignorance. (Williams 19)” I know there have been multiple times I have joined my neighbors in multiple trash pick ups, throwing out garbage and recycling plastic in hopes of saving our wildlife. I may not live in the forest in a log cabin or in a desert but I still love and appreciate nature. I agree with Barbra Kingslover that we as humans need wild places. We need to have a place in nature to escape to when all the chaos of the world seems to be too much. People may not think they need nature or be oblivious to it. I believe even people who live in the city can still make a connection with the Earth, it is up to them whether or not they want to or how often. As Kingslover says, “Wildness puts us in our place. It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd. It reminds us why in those cases in which our plans might influence many future generations, we ought to choose carefully. (Kingslover3)” This is so important because our actions now regarding nature will greatly influence the generations to come. I believe if we want our children and grandchildren to love our landscapes that made our story as much as we did, we need to be more aware of our actions and take care of nature because she definitely takes care of us.

 

The women in the Global South such as India are strongly affected by environmental degradation. There are many different conditions that are considered to be environmental degradation. The deterioration of our environment has caused a lot of harm to women in the Global South and is preventing them from living a happy, healthy life. Women in the global south are responsible to provide the substance for their families to keep them alive and well.They are the ones responsible for providing water for the household in order to keep their families healthy. Yet due to many burdens these women are facing due to environmental degradation it is making it more and more difficult for them to take care of themselves and their families. One of the main problems due to this degradation is the lack of water. Not only is there a lack of sufficient drinking water, some of the water they do have could be contaminated making it potentially toxic to drink. Not only is there a lack of drinking water but the women have a lack of water for cleaning themselves which is a problem because women have certain hygienic needs and need to be able to wash themselves due to menstrual cycles and when they are pregnant. Another serious problem women are dealing with due to environmental degradation is issues with soil fertility. The soil has been eroded and contaminated with fertilizers and pesticides. This is a substantial problem because soil is such an essential thing in the Global South. It is important that they have good soil to grow healthy fodder to feed the cattle, for crops to feed their families and trees in the forests. These women rely on trees in the forests to burn in order to keep their houses warm as well as for fuel to cook meals. The lack of materials to cook sufficient meals can lead to a lack of nutrition, leading to serious health issues. This is another burden on women because they are responsible for taking care of the sick. 

Even though the nonwestern and western perspectives of feminism have some similarities they do seem to be quite different. In both perspectives we see a strong care for equal rights for women as well as nature. They both believe that women and nature are both dominated by a patriarchal hierarchy. Yet in the nonwestern perspective these women need to work extremely hard to try and care for nature because they rely on it heavily in order to take care of themselves and support their families. We also see a lot more damage done to the environment in nonwestern perspective. These women are clearly victims of the domination of nature while women in the western perspective are seen as more of actors, trying to fight against the patriarchal system. Women in the west are simply responding to environmental destruction.  In the western perspective we do not see much about the actual damage that has been done by the patriarchal system, especially regarding the environment. In the western perspective of ecofeminism they make connections between gender and the environment in ideological ways. Yet we do read that many Third World countries have adopted a more modern mode of development from the West, but it seems that this has been destructive to the nonwestern economy and culture. I believe the views of the non western perspective of ecofeminism is more interesting. I believe it is obviously unfortunate that these women have fallen victim to environmental degradation. I was saddened when I read that the suicide rate of young women has risen due to the hardships they face because of environmental degredation. Yet I think it is inspiring that they can also be healers because of their knowledge about nature and regeneration.