Month: February 2020

“Connecting is being. Being is connecting. That’s what IS. Connecting describes the Universe. Connecting describes us. The experience of connecting is full alive-ness. Full alive-ness and wonder. The felt experience of connecting is the desire behind all desires. Not having it is the fear behind all fears.” – Harville Hendrix. 

 

I heard this quote a few days ago from @queercosmos on instagram when he was describing this Mercury Retrograde in Pisces (shoutout to all my pisces out there!). This quote comes from a program called “Safe Conversations” facilitated by Dr. Harville Hendrix and his wife, Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt. When I heard this, it immediately reminded me of this week’s topic of understanding place in terms of Eco Feminism and this idea of a “bedrock of democracy which Terry Tempest Williams speaks about. This idea of connection is crucial to our identity as a society and as individuals and also to being aware and conscious of how we treat the Earth, our home, as well as one another. 

 

Now, I know what you’re thinking. This quote offers a lot to unpack on a Monday morning at 8am, or really, anytime of day… BUT:  it is worth it. Before you click away and decide that you don’t have the brain power to dissect this, allow me! 

 

“Connecting is being, and being is connecting. That’s what IS” – (not too hard, right?) As human beings, we need to feel connected to one another, to our environment, in order to feel psychologically okay. This is actually a scientific fact stated within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

Did you find it? The key word is “connection.”  Connection is considered a basic human need which fulfills love and belonging. 

At the end of the day, all we really want as people is to be loved, to be happy, and to feel connected. This idea pretty much sums up the entire quote. If you can grasp that idea (which I’m almost positive you do since you are a human being), you can understand this quote. Which leads me into the next major theme here – understanding place. 

 

I grew up and currently live in New Bedford Massachusetts, about a 45 minute drive from Boston. I love Boston. I love it so much. Even though I was not born in Boston nor do I currently live there, I love Boston and everything it has to offer. I love the people, the hustle and bustle of the city, the sounds of the city and the people and the cars going by, I love the way the sun sets over all the skyscrapers and how pretty the water looks at dusk, how all the lights look at night… you get the gist. I truly believe that even if you live in the city, you can experience the bedrock of Democracy. Sure, it’s nice to live in the mountains / wilderness, if that’s your thing – but we simply cannot forget the city. 

 

The point I’m trying to make is that Boston inspires me, & I even hope to move there one day. I feel as though Boston truly informs who I am and carries my soul’s history. I resonate with Boston and the constant, flowing, and almost electric energy I feel whenever I am there. We have the opportunity to truly improve where we live, whether it be Boston or the mountains of Colorado. 

(image credit to reddit user u/chelsaeyr)

 

Williams says, “I choose to err on the side of preservation, and stand shoulder to shoulder with brothers and sisters… Each of us belongs to a particular landscape, one that informs who we are, a place that carries our history, our dreams… in each of these places, home work is required, a partici

pation in public life to make certain all is not destroyed… we cannot do it alone. This is the hope of a bedrock democracy, standing our ground in the places we love, together” (Williams 18-19). This sums up the whole point of taking care of the place we dwell in order to preserve and lift one another up. How can we expect to reap the benefits of where we are if we do not show that place respect and appreciation? This means not littering, people. We need to make sure that we are also respecting one another in this process, too. Because how can we get anywhere if everyone is just mean and miserable to each other? 

 

I do agree with Kingsolver that we need wilderness, but not in the way that she seems to represent it. I feel like Kingsolver paints this picture of the ‘wilderness’ (which in her case, is a log cabin in a rural place in Southern Appalachia) as a type of all-knowing paradise in which she is a glowing goddess of nature and of femininity. If this is what makes her happy, great. I think it’s important for us to step away from our day to day lives and make time for travel so we can see other parts of the world, or the ‘wilderness.’ However, I believe that this type of peace, abundance, and appreciation can be felt and created anywhere you are in the world – and this comes from love, respect, and appreciation for our environment, each other, and ourselves.

 

 Or should I say, connection. 

 

Works Cited

 

Kingslover, Barbara., Knowing our Place

http://www.pbs.org/now/printable/transcript_smallwonder_print.html 

 

Williams, Terry Tempest. Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert. Pantheon Books, 2002.

 

McLeod, Saul., Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html 

 

Annotated Bibliography

 

This article written by Saul McLeod helped me to define certain aspects of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a theory of fundamental things that humans need in their lives in order to be psychologically, physically, and emotionally sound. I used this article to prove my point that humans need connection to themselves, and to their society and peers in order to thrive in life. This article goes into depth about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the different tiers as well as what makes up those tiers. Saul McLeod is a teaching assistant in the field of psychology as well as a published researcher for The University of Manchester, Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology. McLeod holds a psychology degree as well as a masters degree in research.

 

One of the biggest concerns for an eco feminist should be those of the women who are not as fortunate or as privlleged as one is here in America, or even like myself, or even like you (the person reading this right now! You!). And to make the term “ecofeminism” more true to its name, I am here to tell you that the environment plays a huge part in this too. More specifically, women in the Global South (aka Africa) are affected by environmental degradation. More specifically, the scarcity of water – not to mention clean water… 

 

This poses an issue for women specifically for three main reasons:

 

1. In low income countries, women / girls are responsible for getting water for the household. This is described as a very time consuming, and tedious process. 
2. Women / girls are a lot more vulnerable to attackers or abusers on their way to a public toilet site.
3. Menstruation. Pregnancy. Childbirth. These are all things that require adequate amounts of clean water. Obviously. 

 

 Can you imagine being attacked on your way to the bathroom? Can you imagine not having enough (CLEAN) water to drink, or to keep clean and safe with? Not only is this an ecofeminist issue, this is a human rights issue. And quite frankly, a crisis. As eco feminists we need to do more to ensure our fellow women, our fellow human beings are taken care of no matter where they are in the world. There is absolutely no picking and choosing when it comes to equality and intersectional feminism. 

 

One thing that immediately struck my attention that is the same for both Western and non-Western views of ecofeminism is this idea of ‘dominion over nature, therefore dominion over women.’ (this is something that is also referred to by Warren and Hobgood-Oster). I believe that women, yes are connected with nature. And until we stop degrading nature and disrespecting the environment, women will continue to be disrespected and degraded as well. However, Agarwal argues on the account of this woman / nature ideology that “such a formulation flies in the face of wide-ranging evidence that concepts of nature, culture, gender, and so on, are historically and socially constructed and vary across and within cultures and time periods” (Agarwal 123). It seems that Agarwal is trying to say here that there is evidence proving that women are not the only ones who have been compared to nature, and that this can vary through different time periods and cultures. 

 

I feel as though Warren’s perspective is more interesting to me because I strongly agree that women are seen as integrated with nature and are expected to behave a certain way that pertains to the adjectives used to describe “mother” nature such as soft, beautiful, or gentle. I think that so many times, women are thought to be like “mother nature” and be nurturing by going through the process (of what can be painful, traumatic, and often dangerous) of pregnancy and childbirth, breast feeding, and staying home to take care of the children. And if a woman decides not to do this, she is shamed and called selfish and is apparently not ‘doing her duty as a woman.’ The truth is that women are supposed to be much more than mothers. We are mothers to OURSELVES first and we should never feel bad for doing whatever the heck we want – and if this means having kids and staying home, great; if this means not having kids and focusing on ourselves and our relationships, great. That is why I so strongly identify with Warren’s view of Ecofeminism!

 

Works Cited

 

UN-Water. “Gender: UN-Water.” UN, www.unwater.org/water-facts/gender/.

 

Agarwal, Bina. “The Gender and Environment Debate: Lessons from India.” Feminist Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, 1992, p. 119., doi:10.2307/3178217.

 

Spoiler alert: Eco Feminism is for everyone – people of all genders, races, sexual orientations, and ethnicities.  

 

Hobgood-Oster that Eco feminism “asserts that all forms of oppression are connected and that structures of oppression must be addressed in their totality” and that “Oppression of the natural world and of women by patriarchal power structures must be examined together or neither can be confronted fully”. In other words, Eco Feminism is meant to address and dismantle all forms of oppression and that if one area of oppression is not confronted, then other forms of oppression will not be able to be fully eradicated either. 

 

Ecofeminism is not just the idea of women’s empowerment and women’s liberation, but rather it is that, and also the empowerment and liberation of all those who suffer from racism, sexism, naturism, classism, and heterosexism. Hobgood-Oster asserts that all of these issues of oppression are all intertwined. The very heart of ecofeminism can be seen in this image:

Here, you can see that there are individuals of all races and genders coming together. The term ‘intersectional feminism’ I think is a great way to define what eco feminism is! Intersectional is another term meaning the inclusion of those who would be more than often left out of mainstream, cookie cutter feminism such as the disabled, PoC, and trans women. 

 

If reading books bores, you can easily learn what eco feminism is by curling up on the couch and watching a movie! Moana (2016) was a breakthrough Disney film featuring not only a princess of color, but environmental issues as well. Jen Yamato of The Daily Beast describes the film more adequately than I could saying, “The film follows Moana … the daughter of a chief who’s always been told she’ll one day lead her people. Forbidden from venturing into the vast ocean that calls to her, she struggles to contain the yearning to go beyond her world. But when ecological decay starts devastating their only food sources and threatening the future of the island, she defies her father and leaves behind the safety of her home in order to save it from ruin” (Yamato). Yamato also notes that Moana could not have come at a better time, in the midst of the presidential election of Donald Trump. Let’s face it: us feminists NEEDED that empowerment. It is crucial especially for young girls to have a role model to look up to ESPECIALLY in a time where the leader of our country is openly and blatantly misogynistic in his views and the laws he (attempts to) establish… 

 

Works Cited

 

Hobgood-Oster, Laura. Ecofeminism: Historic and International Evolution . 18 Aug. 2002.

 

Yamato, Jen. “The Revolutionary ‘Moana’: Disney’s Most Unapologetically Feminist Princess Yet.” The Daily Beast, The Daily Beast Company, 23 Nov. 2016, www.thedailybeast.com/the-revolutionary-moana-disneys-most-unapologetically-feminist-princess-yet.