The Feminine and Nature: Women’s Ecological Prospects and the Fall of Androcentrism

Abstract

Ecofeminism, a term coined by French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne in 1974, attempts to construct a viable environmental ethics, considering possible links between the oppression of women and that of nature. Since its inception, ecofeminism postulates a logical association between the perception, representation, and treatment of women and the natural sphere by patriarchy and proffers a clear understanding of one by, perforce, acquiring knowledge about the other. This movement, in fact, has gained momentum in recent decades in the form of reactionary theorizations and praxes against androcentrism (male-centrism) and anthropocentrism (human-centrism), the two driving forces behind the current environmental crisis. The ecofeminist stance, a posteriori, gives a philosophical account that questions male-based ideology and relates it to historical sexism, gender constructs, and the ecocidal attitude toward the ecosphere. Joining women with ecology proposes a full-fledged ground for comprehending and dismantling androcentrism and, concurrently, a mediation for the current environmental quandary. Ecofeminism is, in fact, the only discipline that views patriarchy as the higher power behind all sorts of suppression, deeming it an obstacle to social and political transformation. The movement, ergo, seeks to put an end to patriarchal forms of domination, change our conceptualization of women in modern culture, and assert the interconnectedness of the entire ecosphere.