Blog 6

Ecofeminism was the topic that I was assigned for my Group Teaching Project and was my first choice. Last semester I took a Feminist Political Theory course and saw many similarities between what I had learned in that course about women's oppression and what the readings on Ecofeminism addressed. Overall, I was pleased with what most of the readings had to say about the issues regarding the social structure of society, how women fit into it and how that has impacted on the environment throughout history.
    Specifically, one aspect of one of the articles that I really agree with and believe should be brought up during our class meeting is the idea that patriarchy has assigned women closer to nature than men, and that this is view is socially constructed.  Women are not naturally closer to nature than men are, although society often has us believing different. I can absolutely agree with this claim and I believe that much of the reason why this inaccurate view about women and the environment exists is because we generally see the earth through feminine lenses as "Mother earth". Although viewing the earth as motherly and female seems like a pretty innocent view, it does have its drawbacks. Throughout history it can be seen that men have acted in ways that have harmed the environment and did so with the expectation that the women of their time would clean up their mess, since it was believed that the women cared more about the earth.
   Something else that I found to be very intriguing in the readings was that societies have often used women as political and social tools. In King's article, King brings up how throughout history and even in many societies today, women's reproductive rights have been seen as something that can be controlled and this can have a profound effect on the environment. Finally, I believe that while this topic is being presented to the class, it is important to stress that many environmental issues all around the world, especially in third world countries can be tackled simply by empowering women and strengthening social equality.