The term Intersectionality is quite vast, in its first form it was used to describe the interdependent relationship between race and womanhood as experienced by Black Woman coined from the scholarship of Kimberle Crenshaw. A more contemporary approach uses intersectionality as, “an analytic tool by feminists, hoping to address and resolve the most fundamental and contentious of concerns within feminist scholarship i.e. the existence of differences between women” (Kings, 64). The intention for using intersectionality in this new type of way is to prove and show, “the interconnectedness of race, class, gender, disability, sexuality, caste, religion, away age and the effects which these can have (in their many and uniquely constituted forms) on the discrimination, oppression, and identity of women and the natural environment” (Kings, 64). With that being defined intersectionality is versatile it’s had the ability to be leveraged as a, “complexity (McCall 2005), a continuum (Mehrotra 2010), a lens (MacGregor 2010), a paradigm (Winker & Degele 2011 and Hulko 2009), an axis or axes (Yuval Davis 2006), a crossroads with a roundabout (Garry 2011), a critical praxis (Hill Collins 2015), a matrix of domination (Bilge 2010 and Hill Collins, 2015), a framework (Anthias 2012), a ‘nodal point’ (Lykke 2005), a rhi- zome (Lykke 2010) or even a mountain with liquids of uneven viscosity running down it and mixing together (Garry 2011)”(page 65). And just like intersectionality’s original purpose, as detailed by Crenshaw, there is an analytical avenue that dissects and pairs the socially constructed identities. It’s related to Agarwal’s way of teaching ecofeminism because it, “tak[es] into account the influence of class, gender, and caste on the structures of power. Agarwal claims that the relationship women share with the environment is not biologically determined but rather one which is variable” (King, 76). We know from Agarwal guidance and pioneering this space that, “the ‘closeness’ of their relationship and the greater interest that women may take in the preservation and protection of natural resources, as compared to their male counterparts, has more to do with their role in society as based on class and caste than it does with any necessary or biological connection” (King, page 76).  So the basic study of ecology is deemed important in this ecofeminism space because as defined by Webster’s dictionary, “ecology is a branch of science concerned with the relationships between living things and their environment. : the pattern of relationships between a group of living things and their environment” (Websters, 2023). 

Eco Feminist interconnected “web” is an additional layer. While the focus of intersectionality this far has been on social identities like race, gender, and sexuality. There is an added layer of this concept. Now more commonly depicted as a “web” we add and thus connect dynamics like privilege, domination, and oppression. This concept is more commonly used under an eco feminist view. The ecofeminist web can assert that women’s lives are vastly different from each other, because each identity brings along its own differentiation that can impact said lives from person to person. Described in greater detail, “A person is likely not simply “oppressed” it is the idea that we hold multiple categories of identities within each of us. It is possible and (likely) that society enforces both advantages and disadvantages at the same time” (Blackboard). 

*To the left is an image of the web of Intersecting Axes if Privilege, Domination, and Oppression

A prime example I picked up of this was in this week’s reading “A Question of Class” by Dorothy Allison. She talks extensively from her viewpoint starting from childhood. One of her social identities is her economic background. She says this in defense of the treatment of low income women similarly situated to her, “the poverty I knew was dreary, deadening, shameful, the women powerful in ways not generally seen as heroic by the world outside the family” (Allison, paragraph 11) because Allison is white she addresses the experiences of the poor working class women she grew up around to connect the reader to the interconnection of oppression and privilege. It was an awakening for Allison that she uncovered that not every household in America was the same. Having primarily matured around people with similar identities to herself. Allison, “met there had not been shaped by the rigid class structure that dominated the South Carolina Piedmont. The first time I looked around my junior high classroom and realized I did not know who those people were not only as individuals but as categories” (paragraph 20). This awakening from Allison is clearly explained under the ecofeminist web of connectivity.  We have to acknowledge that this intersectional dynamic is a web, because many scholars and activists before us have brought the interconnectivity of  Ecofeminism, Intersectional Feminism and environmental feminism, to name a few. Even Beverly Daniel Tatum points out this circumstance and quotes the fabulous Audre Lorde saying, “many of us are both dominant and subordinate. As Audre Lorde said, from her vantage point as a Black lesbian, “there is no hierarchy of oppressions.” The thread and threat of violence runs through all of the isms. There is a need to acknowledge each other’s pain, even as we attend to our own” (Tatum, page 5). Not only do all aspects of this week’s readings teach us about the importance of intersectionality’s relationship to ecofeminism but this semester has navigated us to a position where we can see how all life is tangled and if analysis we can find commonality. 

The Norgaard and York hypothesis shows examples of changes involving “social theorists identify[ing] environmental concern as a major factor leading to the reshaping of nation-states during the past century” (Beck, Giddens, and Lash 1994; Spaargaren and Mol 1992) (Norgaard & York page 506). It is argued in this week’s essays that the changes in state are concentrated in the environmental conditions of politics and how women’s role in society is significantly impacted because of the environment. Their thesis: “Does the degree of gender equality in the political realm within a nation have an impact on state environmental policy? Focusing on the nation-state, we aim to assess the association between gender equality and state environmentalism, as indicated by the ratification of international environmental treaties” (page 507). Serves an exploratory bridge between gender’s power over politics in relation to  governance and policy. 

The introduction to York and Norgaard essay interrogated societal power dynamics, “in an unequal society, the impacts of environmental degradation fall disproportionately on the least powerful” (page 508). We know that in western society and in heteronormative patriarchy places women, regardless of occupation, in one of the lowest rungs on the social totem pole.  Now to add another “system” into that equation of power, politics and gender collide when environmental policy is dissected.

Now back to the thesis of the two scholars, where does gender equality come into play for environmental policy?!? Ecofeminist teachings already have extensively explored the concerns of women and the environment because of patriarchy in various parts of the world. 

Once Norgaard and York  connect women’s operational effects of state and patriarchy’s capacity  they focus in on how gender works at level with environmental policy and the disparities women’s are regulated to because of it. Keeping in mind because of the normalization of these dynamics, “ women are more likely than men to express support for environmental protection and that women consider a variety of environmental risks, from nuclear power to toxic substances, to be more serious than do men” (508). And because we know the bond between the state of the environment and gender equality is closely linked we can assume that women’s position in the state is also a reflection of the status of the environment and subsequently its policies. York and Norgaard describe the systems themselves as gendered. 

 Stockholm Environment Institute reports that “Outdoor air pollution is linked to preterm births” 

 “Study links outdoor air pollution with 2.7 million preterm births per year”

If the solution for increased birth rates lies in the quality of air it is imperative that ecosystems for birthing people are conscious of gender equality and public and environmental health standards. Switzerland is ranked as having the best air quality and subsequently since women have received the right to vote in 1971, the amount of women represented in their representative democracy has grown to 42%. 

Female Leadership in State Environmental Landscape

Maathai’s a environmentalist political activist, the first woman to hold a doctorate degree from central east Africa formerly educated in the U.S. because of advanced educational opportunities in the U.S.  Maathai, as a key political activist working in the environmental space, spearheaded an initiative that allowed women in African villages to “improve the environment by planting trees to provide a fuel source and to slow the processes of deforestation and desertification” (encyclopedia Britannica ) . What is important to note is that women were paid to plant trees and any tree that lasted past three months, women were compensated for. This is crucial because in countries like Kenya women performed labor intensive jobs like gathering firewood and water as the care takers in their villages. Payment for labor leads to more equal treatment between men and women, so they fact that women were being paid for the productivity of the trees planted is essential. Her own environmental organization is responsible for 30 million trees being planted and inspiring a handful of other organizations to begin this same work.

In 1989 the Kenyan government sought to deforest Uhuru Park to build a skyscraper.  Maathaai organized nonviolent protests with women from the state to oppose the destruction of the park and was successful. The protest prevailed and Maathaai went on to become a member of parliament and the Assistant Minister of environment, natural resources, and wildlife.

In the reading this week Norway’s ability to strive for gender equality in their state is highlighted, made possible by leveraging a certain percentage of female political talent for cabinet roles under her leadership. Similarly in the Republic of the Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine was voted in the top 20 political leaders working in the climate space. Her first order of business required her to make major state environmental decisions, President “Heine took charge in January and immediately declared a state of emergency over a drought so dire that water was rationed in the capital, Majuro” (Milman and Ryan, 2016).

Another key indicator to strong state environmentalism lies in the population of the state. Mass migration (20,000) is a state environmental issue for RMI, the impact of a worsen climate ecosystem, caused by the unstable conditions of the RMI. Heines’ top priority as president involves stabilization of the state which would lead to greater gender equality among its constituents as we know that women will be hit with the hardest impacts of the harsh effects of the climate crisis in RMI. Heiene’s has used her big platform to advocate for the people of the Global South that face the effects of environmental degradation far more than those living in the Global South while contributing significantly less.

Above is a picture of the Republic of Marshall Islands and surrounding territories.

Works Cited 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Green-Belt-Movement 

https://www.scu.edu/environmental-ethics/environmental-activists-heroes-and-martyrs/wangari-muta-maathai.html

5 ways reducing pollution can improve equality for women

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/15/marshall-islands-climate-change-springdale-arkansas

Objectification of women is an action so deeply ingrained in us that it does sit on a spectrum of least to most visible. However some of the images under Carol J Adams website jumped out at me as outrageous, one of them was the “we’ve got the best racks” image. I nearly gasped when I was scrolling through because it was so clear the imagery and marketing was trying to convey. The women in this particular image are looking straight to camera, they are outfitted in dresses that show their cleavage. Also the word “racks” has several connotations, one meaning referring to a cut of meat and the other to parts of a woman’s body. I make a note on the placement of both of these images because the women are both looking straight to the camera but their bodies are gravitating towards the rack of meat on the table situated beneath them.

What do we learn from the objectification of women and animals? This week the beginning of the reading spoke about hierarchies and when I applied the ideas of both objectification, hierarchies, and patriarchy I saw it clearly in the image. The man (patriarchal figure) is sitting center stage like a, “symbol for what is not seen but is always there… patriarchal control of animals” (Adams, 3) while the women’s bodies, in this case, are being used as objects under the male gaze. The objectification of women and women’s bodies in this image is used as a tool to sell non-human animals. Adams also acknowledges around page 8-9 that there is a hierarchy with humans and non humans. I can visually see and thus rank where all parties are placed in the image. The animal meat is the lowest of all three objects in this picture. The order may look a bit like this: the man is centered and unbothered, then the bodies of the two women, then the meat. In this regard I believe the consumer is male targeted. While the consumed is the women and/or animal meat because, “women are animalized and animals are sexualized and feminized” (Adams, 13). When power struggles that position people and animals to be either eaten or do the eating there are two outcomes in that scenario. 

This image sexualizes the pig in the same way we sexualize women. Verbiage like “high maintenance” is used to associate the value of women who are deemed better to the value of feminized pig or even more subtle verbiage like “advance” in this context.

I also learned from Adams that, “consumption is the fulfillment of oppression, the annihilation of will, of separate identity” (page 14). So I believe that objectification is a tool of oppression. Just as the term anthropornography that Adams’ coined  can be used to describe what is happening in this image of the feminine pig.

This was one of the images this week that while filtering through the slideshow my  mouth fell open in shock. It is peak objectification and extremely dehumanizing to women. I’m reminded of the point that Adams was making around page 7 about dehumanization as a tactic “ when a group is deemed not human, oppressors have several options for establishing just who they see them as” (Adams, 7). About women first needing to be seen as human to not be objects of the male gaze. But this meme would suggest through sexually charged comparison that women can be served up like we do meat. All of this is based on a hierarchy of species, that is outlined from most powerful to to least.

 Adams illustrates this on page 8. I have listed the order of living things under speciesism below: 

Top 3

▶️human being

▶️Subhumans

▶️The  devil

Bottom 3 

▶️ Reptiles

▶️ Insects

▶️ “Material” nature- Earth

This particular image jumped out at me because it clearly is not only sexualizing women but adds another layer of manipulation because it implies that women are inherently more dishonest than men and/or lying to men about their needs with to cis gendered men. Also as far as imagery goes the biggest thing in this photo is the food. This is also a more current marketing as far as some of the other photos we looked at go. This idea that food marketing that centers the objectification of marketing will have very similar points to it  because, “advertisements that sexualize and feminize animals have been around for more than thirty years, and during this time, they have become more widespread and more explicit” (page 14). Back to my initial feelings about seeing this image from at least from 2000’s of a famous socialite, it is very sexualized, Paris Hilton in a bathing suit and comments like “it’s gonna get messy”, all added to enhance the sexual nature of women.