The Oppression of Nature and Women
When you look at feminism you have to look at it from all angles.
It’s important to consider all perspectives because women studies or issues are not limited to just one type of women. We know that feminism started off from the middle class white women perspective. Women movements catered to their views and issues.
Now, many women waves and movements later we are now able to see that the web for women’s issues intersect in multiple webs. In the last post we talked about Intersectionailty in women’s studies and how women have multiple intersections that make their individual experiences unique to them. Well if you add this concept of intersection to women you can also add it to nature.
Nature and women have been connection for as long as humans have been on earth. We hear terms like “mother nature” or when applying a pronoun to earth we hear “she” or “her”.
For many years women have been the care takers, laborers, and farmers of the lands. When we look at the deprivation of women we can see that it is very similar to the deprivation of nature. In the same way women face oppression, so does the environment and the two are highly connected.
Almost every culture has a deep connection to nature. Starting back to before the times of colonization in the U.S. the natives had a rich connection with the land. Over the years environment activist groups have formed to help protect the lands that is sacred to them.
When we look at American history as such events like the Trail of Tears, we have to consider what this meant for the native people and culture. They were forcefully removed from their land, many killed and the remaining force to split and live on new lands. For them this is horrifying , not just because they are being removed but because their religion and spirituality is based off the land itself. Indian women are deeply connected to the land. They lose traditional knowledge and culture practices that affects identity and culture. These effects lie beneath the material deprivations and oppression of a humankind, this is loss of identity they suffer.
There is also a deep connection between resource extractions and violence against women. When companies come in and take land there is more violence against indigenous women.
For example when mine sites are creating it causes a man dominated work force that make women more subjective to violence and sexual harassment.
The Native American women have made stand against the deprivation of their land and people. They are leading the movement against the Dakota Access pipeline, but they say they face cruel and inhumane treatments from the police.
The picture below shows a Native women protesting at a rally against the Dakota Access Pipeline behind the 128th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 2, 2017.
There is also The Chipko Movement that is lead out of South Asia.
It was organized in 1970’s to resist the destruction of forest spread throughout India.
“In 1973, women of the area under the leadership of an activist, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, went into the forest and formed a circle around the trees preventing the men from cutting it down. ”
The success achieved by this protest led to similar protest all over the world.
“The leaders encourage the development of local industries based of the conservation and sustainable use of forest wealth for local benefit”.
It makes sense that women feel like it’s their job to protect the forest/ land because they hold primary responsibility for working the fields. Their livelihoods depend on it. This is how they provide shelter, food, and resources for their family. They are the first to be aware of the environmental damages.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/31/512763500/administration-orders-easement-for-construction-of-dakota-access-pipeline
https://indianexpress.com/article/what-is/what-is-the-chipko-movement-google-doodle-5111644/