Tim, thanks for the sign-off information. No offense, but I just don't think
I want to be on a list that takes the feminism out of ecofeminism. If I had
wanted to just be on an ecology list I would have signed up for one.
Bye!
Madrone
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thu Aug 27 16:15:53 1998
From: "Linda Littrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 17:15:35 -0600
Subject: separtism and saving the world
Greetings:
I'm finding the recent lively discussions here to be thought-
provoking. Stoney's forwarded message about the upheaval at the
anarchist meeting starkly outlined some important issues regarding
separtism, patriarchy, ecofeminism and feminist theory (the latter
I'm just getting into for a liberal arts master's program).
To wit:
All the talk here about bombing terrorists, etc. has patently
avoided addressing the problem of the propensity to generic violence
across the globe -- which springs, almost exclusively from the male
gender. We could say that this stems from enculturation, which is
one of the primary tenents of feminist theory: that male
socialization over the millennia predisposes many males to resort to,
or to choose violence (from domestic violence to nuclear
proliferation, to terrorism, to murder, and violent crime, etc...) as
a way to act in the world. Why is this phenomenon true?
I believe that males who espouse ecofeminism need to acknowledge the
priviledge that maleness (especially white, heterosexual maleness)
confers, nearly universely. Much of it goes unrecognized in a world
that defines humanity with an androcentric (male) bias. The
anarchist meeting so vividly exposes the virulent fear and backlash
that often occurs when this concept is brought forth for discussion.
And I feel that this list is a very appropriate place for it to be
discussed.
I'm sorry if Madrone leaves because she feels the need for
"non-mixity" because I truly feel that men and women do need to
keep the dialogue open....but I also feel that ecofeminist men may
need to recognize that some of their unconscious behaviors and
unquestioned ways of thinking are, indeed, manifistations of a
partriarchy, alive and well, even in the progressive movement.
Regards,
Lydia in St. Paul, MN
