Hey again, this time, were talking about state environmentalism and how it relates to ecofeminism. In Kari Norgaard and Richard York’s article Gender Equality and State Envoronmentalism, They bring up many good points about the relationship between women in power and the environment. Their abstract mentions that “the findings indicate that nations with higher proportions of women in Parliament are more prone to ratify environmental treaties than are other nations” and I find this completely believable.
As women progressively gain more and more positions of power over time, its important to consider what we are truly fighting for as women. Of course, there is the BASIC fundamental ideas of women being treated better in the workplace and getting rid on injustices that place women below men on a regular basis, but then there is also the wider array of issues that effect our everyday life.
Before all of this coronavirus stuff happened, I actually visited Sweden for the first time a week or two ago. It’s a long story about how I got back in one piece but anyways! Sweden is none for being super liberal and open minded, and I found that not only my friend Agnes (who I was visiting) was always environmentally conscious, but nearly everyone around us was always thinking carefully about the environment around them. When we went to a fast food place I was surprised that Agnes wasn’t the only one who used renewable and recyclable straws made out of paper, but that was the norm. It wasn’t just that, they even have all of their trash carefully organized into different compartments and mainly rely on trains rather than each having their own car to get from place to place. And that’s because a lot of Sweden is very forward thinking and progressive. They are very open minded about things such as the lgbt+ community and things of that nature, so I suppose it doesnt really surprise me that they care so much about the environment.
An interesting point made was how “In an unequal society, the impacts of
environmental degradation fall disproportionately on the least powerful. Gendered
divisions of labor, land, and other resources have meant that women have been
uniquely and disproportionately affected by ecological destruction” I find this true. When thinking about Sweden, it gets me thinking about other parts of the world where people are not as lucky to have as much freedom and tolerance. As stated in Norgaard’s and York’s article, “gender is implicated in many facets of the state including a gendered
division of labor within state apparatus, gendered structures of power, and the interplay between social movements and state policies” (Norgaard)
When looking for two outside sources the tackle this subject, I found this article about intersectionality, ecofeminism, and state government. Some food for thought is the idea of pinkwashing, or putting the breast cancer ribbon on items that contain chemicals that lead to cancer. This was definitely interesting to think about, considering how absurd putting the ribbon on something that may give you breast cancer is!
Ecofeminism: Environmental Justice with a Gender and Intersectional Lens
This article was also an intersting find as there is a whole website dedicated to further discussing this topic. I’ll have a to take a closer look afterwards. There’s different tabs that cover all sorts of issues and ecofeminist’s various responses to it, and I’m interested to learn more.
http://www.wloe.org/Uprooting-the-Patriarchy.435.0.html
Hi there! I really enjoyed reading your blog post this week and wanted to talk about a few things that you mentioned. First, I wanted to say that I am glad you made it home safe during this awful pandemic we are going through and I hope you are staying healthy and safe! I know right now I am one of the people working in retail so I, unfortunately, have to still work every day but I hope you do not! Next, I wanted to talk about how you described your experience over there in Sweden. I think it is awesome that they are actively trying to be eco-friendly and that is it their everyday norm to use reusable items and recycle daily. I think the United States should learn a few things from them! I also liked the quote you used that said, “An interesting point made was how “In an unequal society, the impacts of environmental degradation fall disproportionately on the least powerful. Gendered divisions of labor, land, and other resources have meant that women have been uniquely and disproportionately affected by ecological destruction” I find this true. ” I find that this quote says that women are more affected by ecological destruction and while I agree with this, I also feel like it is not just women who suffer. Both men and women alike are affected because without our environment, we would not be able to live. Overall, I think more women should be placed in positions of power so that our environment can flourish. Great post this week, I look forward to reading more!