Environmental thoughts

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Feminism, the Mastery of Nature, & Humane Livestock Handling

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I have written previously (though not well) on Australian ecofeminist activist and intellectual Val Plumwood’s 1994 Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. She offers a theorizing historical examination on the subject of ecofeminism which exemplifies a startlingly brilliant feminist logic. Her brilliantly lucid critique of Western ethics is a consistently theorized and tightly-written examination of…

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Three Perspectives on Ecofeminism

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In 1993 a book emerges which provocatively probes ecofeminism’s epistemology during its analysis of the historical roots of the oppressive conflation of women with nature. The collection of essays titled Ecofeminism, by Maria Mies & Vandana Shiva, is a biting critique of the colonization of nature, women, and the Third World by the white male…

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Blood, Bread, & Roses — and Death of Nature

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In a brilliantly re-creative intellectual thread, in 1993 feminist lesbian poet Judy Grahn re-members and reclaims the sacrality of women and menstruation in her Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World. She notes with startling clarity that, “All origin stories are true” (7), as she offers us a radical new origin myth for…

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Unspoken Worlds article reviews, pt. 3

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Interrelatedness One of the precepts of ecofeminism (at least as I attempt to practice it) is the recognition of not only the value and beauty of both human bodies and the physical world, but also of our deep spiritual and genetic connections with all that is. This is, I think, a serious issue with most…

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“The Earth Path” by Starhawk

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I had to work my way slowly through Starhawk’s The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature; I find myself wishing this had been one of the first books assigned. Her description of finding a mostly-natural place for daily meditations is inspiring, especially the parts about using all one’s senses to drink…

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“The Next American Revolution” by Boggs & Kurashige

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After reading The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs & Scott Kurashige, I confess my primary reaction was a frustrated, “Why is this not being better shared? Why must we keep re-inventing the wheel?” Upon reflection, I’d guess there must be some serious corporate (or socio-cultural?) interests involved, that…

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“Feminism & the Mastery of Nature” by Val Plumwood

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This is an astonishingly “chewy” book! I’m impressed, as well as greatly enjoying Plumwood’s fascinatingly erudite, logical — and yet, I feel, still thoughtfully spiritual — considerations on ecofeminism. She is, in fact, so logic-oriented that it was initially a bit disconcerting when her writing was also richly metaphorical. It’s always a pleasure to discover…

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“Unbowed: A Memoir” by Wangari Maathai, pt. 2

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Being a child of the US, I’ve only seen online, rather than face-to-face, the types of deeply vicious and misogynistic attacks which Maathai describes: [C]ertain people were jealous and wanted me to be taught a lesson and put in my place. They took pleasure in what they perceived as my comeuppance. The message was clear:…

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“Unbowed: A Memoir” by Wangari Maathai, pt. 1

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There is a phrase that’s apparently become popular on Twitter conversations where someone wishes to point out unconscious privilege: they state that the issue under discussion is an FWP, or “First World Problem.” Reading Wangari Maathai’s Unbowed: A Memoir, I found myself often reflecting with bleak amusement that all the issues I’ve ever faced —…