Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Ecofeminism

Combining the words ecology and feminism, ecofeminism has been called a “new term for an ancient wisdom” which “embraces the idea that the oppression of women and the oppression or destruction of nature are closely connected.” What is the connection between feminism and the environment? According to Women’s Voices for the Earth, “when surveyed, women consistently rate the environment as one of their greatest concerns – in numbers greater than men … When an environmental threat affects a community’s health, most often it is women who take on these issues. Frequently they do so in isolation, far from established conservation groups and with few resources.”

In the introduction to their book, Ecofeminism, authors Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva write: “Wherever women acted against ecological destruction or/and the threat of atomic annihilation, they immediately became aware of the connection between patriarchal violence against women, other people, and nature, and that: In defying this patriarchy we are loyal to future generations and to life and this planet itself. We have a deep and particular understanding of this both through our natures and our experience as women.”

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