Subject: ECOFEMINISM
From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Jul 1994 20:37:21 -0000
Newsgroups: alt.sustainable.agriculture

Hello JPB and whoever else who was wondering what 
ecofeminism is-

Hopefully, this will give you some idea:

Ecofeminism connects ecology and feminism by drawing a 
parallel between the exploitation of the environment and the 
exploitation of women due to their objectification within 
today's society. Science and technology may be (and have been) 
used as tools of patriarchal dominence. Nature and women 
must be revalued. 

Judith Plant writes in the New Catalyst:

"Today...ecology speaks for the earth, for the 'other' in 
human/environmental relationships, and feminism speaks for 
the 'other' in female/male relations. And ecofeminism, by 
speaking for both the original others, seekd to understand the 
interconnected roots of all domination, as well as ways to 
resist and change."

Some views of ecofeminsim include the premise that women 
are more aware of the environment because of their position 
within society. 
"The environment for women in our communities is the place 
we live in and that means everything that affects out lives"
-Penny Newman 

For example in many developing countries it is the woman's 
responsiblity to cook, gather firewood, carry water, and grow 
the subsistence food for the family. In this way they directly 
relate with thier environment- in the woods, at the river or 
well, or in the garden. Their primary concern is the health and 
survival of their family. Therefore, it is obvious to them that 
when their natural environment is endangered (i.e. their water 
supply is polluted) thier own health and survival is 
endangered.

"The ecological challange compels us to recognize connections 
and continuity within an organic, evolving, dynamic nature. A 
feminist reponse that is ecological must necessarily 
reactivate a conscious awareness of, and dialoouge with, 
nature, lifting it out of its patriarchal definition as 
something passive and inert- a definition that has also been 
applied to women."  -Vandana Shiva