Month: March 2023

Intersectionality is a term that was used by Kimberle Crenshaw who believed there was no “single-axis framework” that encapsulated the “lived experiences of black women” who face both sexism and racism (Kings 2017). Black women face various types of oppression in a multitude of complex ways (Kings 2017). Although the term intersectionality was used to help describe the experiences black women were having, intersectionality became a tool for feminists to analyze the parallels between women and their experiences (Kings 2017). Due to the diversity that intersectionality brings, it can be used in a variety of different fields (Kings 2017). In regard to ecofeminist intersectionality and feminist intersectionality, there are different types of women in a variety of circumstances, which leads to a plethora of varying experiences (Kings 2017). Therefore “by using the tools of intersectionality” it helps to “illuminate the interconnectedness of race, class, gender, disability, sexuality, caste, religion, age and the effects which these have… on the discrimination, oppression, and identity of women and the natural environment” (Kings 2017). 

In order to become socially aware of the sexist, racist, homophobic imagery, text or occurrences that plague our society, Mari J. Matsuda states in an article from the Stanford Law Review in 1991 about the importance of ‘asking the other question’ (Kings 2017). ‘Asking the other question’ means that discrimination and prejudice that could have been concealed or masked, are now revealed and different “disadvantages and privileges which make up the lived experiences and complex identities of every individual” are now exposed (Kings 2017). 

Intersectionality can be compared to a “web” as Kings states in Intersectionality and the Changing Face of Ecofeminism. The strings that make up the web can represent different categories like “gender, sexuality, race or class; while encircling spirals depict individual identities” which shows how vast and complex intersectionality can be. A spider’s web is typically sticky and can be compared to how different people can become stuck in different “cultural categories” or “conflicting social categories” (Kings 2017). 

Looking at ecofeminism and intersectionality in India, women have been advocating for the environment for hundreds of years, dating back as far as three hundred years ago according to Vandana Shiva in Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India who is an academic, writer and activist (Kings 2017). In one example that shows ‘Indian ecofeminism’ or ‘Indian environmentalism,’ Kings discusses the Chipko movement, which involved women in Rajasthan who sacrificed their lives in order to protect sacred trees called khejri trees (Kings 2017). In the Global South, nature has an intimate relationship with women and therefore there is a great “attempt to protect and preserve local resources” (Kings 2017). However, something that Shiva ignores that Agarwal and Sowmya Dechamma have pointed out is “pre-existing inequalities such as “caste, class, power, privilege, and property relations which predate colonialism” which are important aspects to look at when discussing ecofeminist intersectionality (Kings 2017).

In The Difference Between Ecofeminism & Intersectional Environmentalism by Leah Thomas, Thomas states that social justice and environmental justice are what both intersectional environmentalism and ecofeminism work towards (Thomas 2020). Intersectional environmentalism looks at sexism as well as other social injustices such as “Black Lives Matter and youth climate strikes in 2019 and 2020” (Thomas 2020). In regard to ecofeminism, both women and nature are exploited, and women cannot be liberated without nature also being free from the exploitation and the patriarchal grasp. Ecofeminist intersectionality looks at the oppression of women and nature and acknowledges that women are more likely to be affected by ecological deterioration (Kings 2017). By looking at ecofeminism through an intersectionality lens, then the association and connection of women, humans and nature can be assessed and understood in a way that can improve both nature and the livelihood of women (Kings 2017). In order for women and nature to be liberated, intersectionality can be used to look at the connection of women and nature as well as a combination of age, gender, race, religion, sexuality and class while seeing how all of these categories are interlinked and influenced by one another (Kings 2017). 

 

Works Cited:

Ferrara, E. (2014). Rachel Carson – Undersea. Visions for Sustainability 3:62-67. DOI: 10.7401/visions.03.06

Kings, A.E. “Intersectionality and the Changing Face of Ecofeminism.” Ethics & the Environment, vol. 22 no. 1, 2017, p. 63-87. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/660551.

If women are in positions of political power, then there is a greater chance that there will be more support towards environmental protection. In Gender Equality and State Environmentalism by Kari Norggard and Richard York, they found that with more women in Parliament, then environmental treaties are more likely to be ratified (Norgaard, York 506). Through various studies, they show a contrast between men’s and women’s views for “environmental concern, values and perceptions of environmental risks” (Noorgard, York 508). Across the world, women and girls have more environmental awareness than boys and men. Regarding environmental values and beliefs between genders, it was concluded that “German and Russian girls had higher levels of environmental awareness than boys; in Australia, girls exhibited greater environmental responsibility than did boys when socioeconomic levels were held constant and in Norway…” it was found that “boys and girls were equally concerned about the environment” but “…girls were more likely to join environmental organizations” (Norgaard, York 509). It could be stated that through socialization, women are typically looked at as caretakers, providing a nurturing, family-oriented nature (Norgaard, York 508). Therefore, the connection between women, nature, and overall environmental concerns are more interconnected than that of man (Noorgard, York 508). Since women are more connected to nature, they are more likely to support the protection of our environment. Whether it is toxic substances poisoning our planet, or nuclear power, women are more likely to take a stand and consider the risks that threaten our people and earth (Noorgard, York 508). 

Women make up the majority of both grassroots movements and environmental organizations which could be linked to the “gendered divisions of labor, land and other resources,” which means that “women have been uniquely and disproportionately affected by ecological destruction” (Noorgard, York 507). Due to the sexism, as well as poverty and racism that plagues our country and around the globe, high-powered, dominant groups and individuals subject the people below them to the destruction of the environment and its hazardous effects (Noorgard, York 510). It has been shown that the patriarchy and capitalism are both suppressive, ecologically unsustainable and exploit both women and the environment. 

After reading about how women are the majority of grassroots efforts and environmental organizations, I looked into women in positions of political power and their influence on the environment. I came across an organization called Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA). The WEA is led by women, and they use grassroots solutions to help protect the environment as well as strengthen communities. The WEA recognizes that women are pivotal in rising against climate change. One woman from Central Kalimantan, Palangka Raya, Indonesia, helps educate and raise awareness on plastic pollution, climate action, forestry problems and helps to coordinate events of Dayak traditions and culture in order to help cultivate pride (WEA). Her name is Sumarni Laman and she is the manager at Ranu Welum for communications and public relations, a youth coordinator for Ranu Welum, a Field Coordinator of the Heartland Project and Guardian of Kalimantan Rainforest (WEA). Within The Heartland Project, Laman was able to bring in over a thousand people to help plant more than 2,500 trees (WEA). The trees are planted on land that was previously forest but was destroyed from burning or it was mined (WEA). Below is an image of Sumarni Laman.

Another woman from the Women’s Earth Alliance is Rose Wamalwa who is the East African program director where she is a Fellow for the Global Women’s Water Initiative (WEA). To this day, Wamalwa works for climate justice for women in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya (WEA). Wamalwa also founded an organization called Women in Water and Natural Resources Conservation (WEA). This organization helps to uplift and improve the lives of women, girls and vulnerable children in East Africa by helping them gain access to health care, education and “capacity building for economic empowerment” (WEA). Wamalwa is deeply interested and invested in women’s empowerment, leadership, community and social entrepreneurship (WEA).

Below is an image of Rose Wamalwa. 

 

 As stated above from Gender Equality and State Environmentalism by Kari Norggard and Richard York, women are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, and “make up 80% of the world’s climate refugees and are 14 times more likely to die in a climate-related disaster than men” (WEA). The imagery above shows a representation of the interconnection of women across the world. The web indicates that women are standing together and are connected to each other as well as nature, fighting for environmental justice and working towards equality within the patriarchal and capitalist world we live in. 

 

Works Cited: 

Norgaard, Kari., & York, Richard. Gender Equality and State Environmentalism. Gender & Society. August. 2005. https://pages.uoregon.edu/norgaard/pdf/Gender-Equality-Norgaard-York-2005.pdf

Women’s Earth Alliance. Womens Earth Alliance, Earth Island Institute, 24 Jan. 2023, https://womensearthalliance.org/.

Over the course of my life, I have heard the term “sex sells” in movies, tv shows, and everyday conversation between peers. However, at what cost? In today’s patriarchal society, women, people of color and nonhuman animals are looked at as something to be “consumed” by the white male who is the “consumer” (Kemmerer). 

Carol J. Adams is a feminist, advocate for animal rights, and an author.  In an interview with Adams by Annie Potts, Adam’s discusses nine feminist-vegan points, one of which states that “Women are animalized, and animals are sexualized and feminized” (Potts 13). In today’s food advertising culture, companies use sexual imagery and “objectification/fragmentation/consumption” to appeal to the male gaze and desires in order to sell their products and sexually exploit woman (Potts 13). As stated in last week’s blog post, the consumption of meat is seen as “manly” and “masculine”, therefore advertisements will target the male’s eye by including sexual imagery for the consumer. In the image below, it shows a man with chicken wings on a table below him. Looking at the man, in his right hand he is holding a woman’s calf and in the left hand it is assumed that he is pouring salt onto her calf. The woman’s leg is held close to the man’s mouth looking as if he is about to take a bite out of her.  By depicting the woman’s leg as a “piece of meat” it highlights the inequality, sexism, sexual violence that occurs in Western society. This image is one example of the “consumed” and the “consumer”. 

In the two images below, one depicts a company called “Buns N’ Thighs” and a picture of a chicken winking at the onlooker, standing in a flirtatious way. The other image shows only the legs of a woman in fishnet leggings and red high heels, while the top of the woman is a burger and a thought bubble that states “Eat Me”. This can be related to Adam’s term ‘anthropornography’, coined from Amie Hamlin, in The Pornography of Meat, where images of domesticated animals are shown in a way that is “sexually inviting… so that the body wanting to be consumed” is “explicitly represented” (Potts 14). 

“The sexualization of animals and the sexual objectification of women thus overlap and reinforce one another” -Carol J. Adam’s

After seeing all of the sexist ads on Carol Adam’s site, I started to look for other ads that are out there, exploiting woman and nature. I stumbled upon a post called “11 Depressingly Real Examples of Sexism in Meat Marketing” on the PlenteousVeg website. Diane Vukovic, the author of the article, who also references The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams, posted this image below from a Burger King ad.  The text stating, “It’ll blow your mind away” has sexual implications along with the photo of a white woman opening her mouth to the sandwich. This image shows not only the women being sexually exploited but is presented by the artist as “sexually consumable” (Potts 14). 

We live in a world where privilege protects privilege and “even if the world of slavery ended, the conceptual world that co-existed with slavery and allowed slavery to exist, lives on” (Potts 19). Humans look at the enslaved live animals as consumable items and we will butcher them for meat knowing that how we treat animals will not be the fate of humans (Potts 19). Women are weighed down by their gender, and the same could be stated for female nonhuman animals. Female nonhuman animals are looked at to reproduce, produce dairy products and eggs and continue the “objectification/fragmentation/consumption” cycle (Potts 13). Therefore, it can be stated that “if animals are burdened by gender, by gendered associations, by the oppression that is gender, then clearly they can’t be liberated through representations that demean women” such as all the images shown above (Potts 20). One way that Adams believes that we could stop this inequality ravaging the nation is for the United States government to stop “subsidizing meat eating and dairy products” making it more expensive and potentially deterring customers from buying (Potts 21). We can survive without eating meat and instead adopt a vegan lifestyle. Humans are connected to nonhuman animals whether they would like to admit it or not. Therefore, highlighting these means of oppression, sexual inequalities and species inequalities will help to liberate both women and animals in this patriarchal society that we live in.

 

Works Cited: 

Kemmerer, Lisa. The Pornography of Meat by Carol Adams. Philosophy Now. 2006.

Potts, Annie. The Politics of Carol J. Adams. Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture. 12-24.

Vukovic, Diane. 11 Depressingly Real Examples of Sexism in Meat Marketing. PlanteousVeg. 2021.