Feminism. Most of us hear or see that word and automatically have flashes of images, scenarios and other things associated with the feminism movement. Mainly, a type of pro woman act. However ecofeminism is not too heavily focused on the female v.s male “issues” some of us fight for today. Ecofeminism does in my opinion, a great job in incorporating us as humans and the derives and effects we have on nature.
In the Hobgood-Oster reading there was a section that touched on binaries, which is a major ordeal for many across the globe, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. Society, religions and groups have come up with a way to stereo type and/or create an outline for specific binaries. Looking at this in an ecofeministic manner it is best to allow those to be as they want to be, without ties to any pre-existing meaning or assumptions about it. For instance in the Warren reading it mentioned woman being referred to as animals and nature being referred as female and often sexualized. Then it hit me. The number of times I have heard a woman’s vaginal area being referred to as her “flower/petals. The number of times I have heard a woman being referred to as a cat, fox, cougar. In the Warren reading there was the term “fertile soil” and before reading the Warren introduction I had never even realized this tie. The tie between nature, animals and women, the assumption that women are sought out to be delicate, wild and pure all in the same instance. The unfairness that this is the root of how a woman “is” as we know it, the lack of freedom this causes not only to woman, but to men. The idea that a woman has to lie within this flower bedding and a man must remain on the outskirts in the dirt is crucial to how we behave as humans. Male or female choose to display ourselves to the outside world versus how we truly are behind closed doors.
I chose the photos above because although they are just photos there are many ideas, thought and assumptions that can easily be pinned to these photos. The photo of the woman ties into woman and nature, that we are nature and nature is us. Therefore all of the labels follow … of being a flower, delicate, life producing being etc. Then, for the photo of the man I found my search results to be quiet interesting. All I did was type in “man” just a three letter word the pulled up about fifteen to twenty stereotypical photos of a man. The photos consisted of a man and a woman, in the works of being intimate, the posing of the man in a stronger, more powerful position. A man outdoors, at night, by himself. A lot of bravery and strength was portrayed. In hopes not to offend anyone, I chose to not post those images, but instead talk about them so you can get the idea. The more educated I become about feminism and ecofeminism most importantly, the more I come to find out how many pre-molds society has created for us to pick out of and fit into. Also, the more that I am baffled that picking a norm has become a way of living, which causes deeper issues for society and humanity as a whole for everyone. I believe ecofeminsim can bring much awareness to anyone who is optomistic, I feel more aware of this keen predispositioned outline for humans overall.
while reading your blog post for this week it really opened my eyes to something I myself have never quite realized until now. When you draw the parallel to women, nature, and animals it makes me question why we say the things that we do or follow the systems we are brought into. Growing up I always heard a women’s private area being referred to as sacred and a flower/ delicate. I never put two and two together that women and nature were almost interchangeable for one another. I also like the two pictures you chose showing the difference in society when comparing men and women.