Dr. Sara DiazWGST 380/ENVS 397: Women, Nature, and the EnvironmentGonzaga University

Intersectionality• Feminist framework• Oppressions,

institutions are mutually reinforcing• Racism is reinforced

by sexism which is reinforced by classism.

Intersectionality

•We all occupy multiple social locations•Our identities cannot be reduced•Mix of privileged and subjugated

positions•Oppressions are not additive • a black woman is not simply twice as

oppressed as a white woman

Intersectionality

• System of Domination• Interlocking, mutually reinforcing• All the “isms” work together• Hierarchy of privilege• Not all privileges and oppressions are

equivalent to each other.• “There can be no single-issue politics” –

Audre Lorde

Intersections in Environment

• Use women’s lives to explore intersections between Environment and:• Sexism• Scientific world view• Colonialism / Imperialism• Militarism• Racism• Economic inequality• Sexuality 5

Woman as Nature as Woman

• Ancient—Fertility Goddess• Aristotle—Mere

“Matter”• Early Modern Period—

Positions women, animals, and Nature as objects of scientific study or of colonial conquest.

Domination: Land & Women• Resource extraction

was a primary colonial project• Crops• Timber• Minerals• Oil

• Colonization of women’s bodies• Sexual Exploitation• Extraction of unpaid

labor• Control of

reproduction

• Feminization of people of color• Forced unpaid labor

Gendered Effects• Gendered Division of

Labor:• Collecting wood to

burn for cooking• Finding clean water

sources• Nursing ill

children/elders• Working in off-shore

production zones

Racialized Effects

• Three of the five largest waste facilities dealing with hazardous materials in the United States are located in poor black communities.• 96 percent of African American children who live

in inner cities have unsafe amounts of lead in their blood.• Pesticide exposure among predominantly Latino

farm workers causes more than 300k illnesses each year• High lung and thyroid cancer mortality in native

communities – uranium mining and nuclear testing.

Environment & Women’s Health

• Breast cancer• 1 in 8 women will be

diagnosed with breast cancer

• Early menarche increases risk

• Average age of Menarche (onset of first menstrual period)• Rates of early onset (7-

8 yr/old) higher in communities of color 1830 1920 1980 2006

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

17

14

12.5

10.5

Average age of Menarche US

Lots of Women Activists• Rachel Carson• Wangari Maathai• Erin Brokovich• Vandana Shiva• Lady Bird Johnson• Sandra Steingraber

• Many local activists

Ecofeminism

• Grew out of 2nd Wave Feminist movement• Emphasized women's connection to nature • Exploitation of women and nature part of

the same problem• Limitations:• Not typically intersectional (neglected

race/class)• Assumption that women are closer to

nature

Environmental Justice

• “Environmental Racism”: • Correlation between distribution of

environmental pollution and race

• Focus on the 'social' - race, gender, class matter!• Draws on concepts of Civil Rights• All citizens have a right to healthy living and

working conditions.

Feminist EJ Framework

Environmental

SocialEconomic

This is where Feminist EJ activists work

First Reading: Carolyn Merchant

•Help us understand:•Association of women with nature

has deep historical roots• Scientific Revolution• New, mechanized world view

•Connection between feminist and environmental movements today.