Women are facing issues of inequality and injustice — whether it be in the form of their male counterparts making more money than them for the same job, having their bodies regulated by legislators, being told they’re ‘asking for it’ when coming forward about issues of sexual assault and rape, and a multitude of other situations. At the same time, the environment is being exploited and degraded. Fossil fuels are being excavated and burned, causing global climate change, ocean acidification, sea level rise, depletion of the ozone layer, and numerous other issues.
These are two issues currently prominent in U.S. society. They appear to be entirely different concepts, but is there a commonality between the two?
The media intentionally advertises items such as cars and hamburgers with women, in order to entice men to purchase the advertiser’s products. But these women have no names, no personalities. They are reduced to objects to be sold or gained from the product. This sends the message that women are to be dominated by men, and this concept becomes applied to the environment.
Our society is raising men to be dominant and aggressive. They are taught to get into violent, physical fights rather than use words, to punch walls when upset, and have specific, traditionally masculine toys such as guns and cars marketed to them. The phrase ‘boys will be boys’ is used as an excuse to justify their troublesome actions. But boys aren’t inherently born to be that way. This is how they were raised to be.
These men are then conditioned to dominate. Whether it’s through the work industry or marriage, men become indoctrinated to view themselves as the superior and dominant sex. Objects and tools that men use to conquer and dominate, such as cars and boats, are often referred to as ‘she’ and/or given female names as a reflection of this.
Women are equated to the natural world. On Mother’s day, flowers and flower themed items are purchased to give to women. On any other day, feminine products such as Summer’s Eve markets items with floral images, which are often scented, usually with something along the lines of ‘sheer floral’ or ‘delicate blossom’.
The domination of women and nature becomes most indicative in our language. Women are dehumanized while nature is feminized: ‘Virgin land’, ‘mother nature’, ‘p*ssy’, and ‘b*tch’. Note that these last two phrases are used to degrade women — to reduce them to animals, which are a part of nature and are dominated, hunted, and overpowered.
Women are sexually harassed, violated, and raped, usually by men, while the environment is simultaneously degraded. When European men first arrived in America, they raped and slaughtered the Native American population in addition to exploiting their environment, all for their own personal gain. This example is not meant to diminish the severity of the violation of women, it is simply to draw a comparison between the two.
According to Ecofeminism: Toward Global Justice and Planetary Health, matriarchal societies are typically more caring and considerate, specifically towards the environment. Goddess worship did not create a gender hierarchy, and it emphasized the relationship between humans and nature. This paper states that this shift in societal leadership and religion is what led to issues of environmental degradation and the oppression of women.
Ecofeminism is the philosophical concept that the intersectionality of environmental exploitation, sexism, and misogyny, are issues resulting from male dominance. It argues that in order for these issues to become less ingrained into our society, they both have to be solved together — to be solved at the root.
Before you dismiss this argument as radical, hear me out. Think about it. Yes, it is true women can degrade the environment as well. But I believe this is primarily caused by industrialization, where everyone ends up degrading the environment and stripping the natural world of its resources due to the lifestyle of consumerism. The claim presented here is that the issues of environmental exploitation, sexism, and misogyny are rooted in the dominance of men. Older, matriarchal societies were generally more caring, specifically in regards to the environment. Everyone contributes to environmental degradation in current U.S. society as a result of industrialization, but guess who created this system?
For more articulate information:
Ecofeminism: Toward Global Justice and Planetary Health by Greta Gaard and Lori Gruen
