What is Ecofeminism Cont’d

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Women in the Global South are affected by environmental degradation in many, many ways. In the Global South, the women are the main gatherers of fuel, fodder, and water and a workday for them is around 10-12 hours (Agarwal). Due to environmental degradation, many of the drinking water wells have dried up or have been rendered unusable, fertilizer and pesticides have contaminated waters and have destroyed fish life and polluted the water (Agarwal). Often times, people claim the cause of environmental degradation is excessive population growth when in reality, trying to control the population growth can lead to environmental degradation (Agarwal). Environmental degradation could cause reduced education for young girls, fewer employment options for women, decline in income due to fodder shortage, and this has led to an increased number of suicides among young women in the recent years (Agarwal). 

Hobgood-Oster describes ecofeminism as a connection between the oppression of women and nature through the patriarchy. Hobgood-Oster wants to tear down this oppression by destroying the patriarchy, the main focus is to “make visible these “women-nature connections” and, where harmful to women and nature, to dismantle it” (Warren). Hobgood-Oster also explains that if we view the oppression of nature and women separately, we will never change it. 

Unlike Hobgood-Oster, Agarwal believes that the relationship women and men have with nature is “rooted in their material reality, in their specific forms of interaction with the environment” (Agarwal, 8). Due to the “gender and class (/caste/race)-based division of labor and distribution of property and power, gender and class (/caste/race) structure people’s interactions with nature and so structure the effects of environmental change on people and their responses to it” (Agarwal, 8). For her perspective, Agarwal uses the term “feminist environmentalism”. 

I found Agarwal’s ecofeminist perspective to be the most appealing. Agarwal has a very realistic approach to ecofeminism and I understood every point she made, unlike Hobgood-Osters approach. Agarwal is trying to help change things for others and herself without putting the blame on everyone else like Hobgood-Oster. 

Works Cited: 

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

Warren, Karen J. “Warren’s Introduction to EcoFeminism.” There It Is . Org, Michael E. Zimmerman, 29 Mar. 2015, thereitis.org/warrens-introduction-to-ecofeminism/.

Hobgood-Oster, Laura. “Ecofeminism: Historic and International Evolution .” 18 Aug. 2002, users.clas.ufl.edu/bron/pdf–christianity/Hobgood-Oster–Ecofeminism-International Evolution.pdf.

49 thoughts on “What is Ecofeminism Cont’d”

  1. I too, found Agarwal a lot easier to process, agree with, and support. I especially like that she believes we should stop rooting men and women against each other and rather come together and work to make change and bring about real progress. Agarwal states, “…women’s and men’s relationship with nature needs to be understood as rooted in their material reality, in their specific forms of interaction with the environment.” I think her point is that both men and women relate to nature/environment differently and therefore they should both be responsible for taking care of it.

    I had a hard time with Hobgood-Oster and Warren last week. I did not like how when someone is describing something they seem to talk in circles, not making any real progress but rather just ending up back where we started. A lot of “philosophy” makes my head spin, not just ecofeminist philosophy but in general. Last weeks reading, I found I was getting very frustrated with it.

    It is truly remarkable how diverse humans living in other parts of the world are affected by climate change. It is interesting also, how unaware we all are of each other’s problems and hardships. As a Westerner, I feel spoiled with my “first-world” problems when I think of the women in India who are walking long distances for drinking water and firewood for their families on a daily basis just to maintain their existence. Without that job getting done every single day, they would not make it. It truly puts life into perspective and it also goes to show that we need to be made more aware of what is going on globally and what the things we do/make/our progress and greed is doing to the rest of the world. Third World people are essentially affected the most by the damage we are putting into the world. Unfortunately, with the climate deniers, the greedy politicians and greedy entrepreneurs it all falls on deaf ears.

    -Tara

    Reply ↓

    • I agree with you completely. I was also getting very frustrated with everything Hobgood-Oster was saying because all she does is repeat herself multiple times. I’m the same way with philosophy, I took an ethics class that primarily discussed philosophy and it was beyond my comprehension. It needs to be discussed more but even then, I feel that most people wouldn’t think anything of it and they wouldn’t care.

      -Elizabeth

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  2. Elizabeth,

    I also found Agarwals perspective most appealing. I think her literature was put together well and shows many examples of actions taking place to combat these issues. India has the highest population in the world and high instances of environmental degradation. I don’t understand how trying to control the population growth can lead to environmental degradation when it already exists. I’ll go back and try to clarify Agarwal was saying there isn’t a link because I found many resources linking the two together.

    Reply ↓

  3. Elizabeth,
    I agree that Agarwal’s perspective was much clearer, and seemed to be rooted in egalitarian thinking whereas I got more of a sense of judgement from Hobgood-Oster. Meaning, for me Hobgood-Oster’s article felt more like a finger pointed at men and the patriarchy solely, whereas Agarwal extended a hand to all to work together in the fight for equality. At least, that’s what I got from it.
    Great post!
    Rachel 🙂

    Reply ↓

    • Rachel,

      I agree completely. I was very turned off by everything Hobgood-Oster was saying because it’s all so accusatory. I felt the same way about Agarwals perspective.

      -Elizabeth

      Reply ↓

  4. Hi Elizabeth & all above :), I agree that this reading was far easier to understand. When considering the content of this weeks and last weeks texts it seems very fitting. I consider Agarwal’s perspective to be far more inclusive, comprehensive, and interested in finding material solutions to material problems. When reading theory theres always a lot of discussion about accessibility. Agarwal’s text is far more accessible with her language and explanations, while last weeks texts were more academic. I think we’ve been conditioned to think if a text sounds academic it must be good, but a lot of times its people just throwing big words around in situations where it is not necessary, and they could be reaching far more people with the information they’re trying to share if they just used more accessible language. To me, thats bad writing – (Not necessarily the case for last week’s texts, just the widespread practice in academia of making texts ridiculously difficult to read for the average person) and reflective of just how inaccessible higher education is to so many. Theory should be easy to read, thats how you make people understand and promote real change, otherwise, what’s the point of it right?

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