Intersectionality

&

Ecofeminism

Patricia Hill Collins built upon her theory, arguing that multiple forms of oppression connect to form a “matrix of domination” – just as identities overlap, so too do the hierarchies by which structural power imbalance is maintained.

Hey there if you’re just joining in, this blog is about the importance of the environment and the equality of women and those that are marginalized through race, class, sex, religion, gender and much more.  In this section I will discussion the importance of ecofeminism and intersectionality. But first I want to reintroduce myself.  As a writer with multiple diagnosed learning disabilities one being dyslexia and another being adhd. It’s been a challenge to maintain a B average. I don’t  give up easily so I will do my best at drawing a clear picture for you. Where am I in the intersectionality model and where are you?  I am first a white American, woman, queer, Jew, poor and middle class family system, 2nd generation Eastern European;  I am privileged to be white and not privileged to be a women.  Does knowing this matter? Does it matter for the environment?  Yes!. Intersectionality and the way it is taught and used is important. In fact without it we will discriminate others and become apart of the hierarchical system that destroys communities and their environment. Even if we don’t consciously want to.  Let’s take you the reader for example. Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your skin color? Are you religious? Where do you live? Are you male or female? Are you LGBTQIA? All these questions matter,  to ecofeminists without them we would find a huge gap for tackling injustices around the world and not just injustice for humans but injustice for nature too.  So you may ask yourself what is ecofeminism, what is intersectionality and why both? Ecofeminism fights for the struggles and oppression of women and nature. One reason is because women are believed to be closer to nature and life on earth is an interconnected web, not a hierarchy. A healthy, balanced ecosystem, including human and nonhuman inhabitants, must maintain diversity. (Ecofeminism beliefs) If we are to understand diversity we must use intersectionality to help understand and realize feminism isn’t just about the equality of women because all women’s experiences are different.  There are many layers to intersectionality. The lens of intersectionality allows for the overlap between identities of race, sex, class, sexuality, etc. to be fully incorporated in structural analysis, thus providing feminist analysis with the perspective to encompass the true range of all women’s lives, the scope to understand all women’s experiences.

Here is a photo of a map of intersectionality.

Intersectionality is a framework designed to explore the dynamic between co-existing identities (e.g. woman, Black) and connected systems of oppression (e.g. patriarchy, white supremacy). The term was created by Kimberlé Crenshaw and challenges an assumption continuing to undermine the feminist movement – that women are a homogeneous group, equally positioned by structures of power.  For an effective feminist movement that tackles the very root of persisting inequalities, in the words of Audre Lorde, “there can be no hierarchies of oppression.”

This statement by Audre Lorde is important.  With hierarchies we value one thing more than the other.  Intersectionality has no room for hierarchy and neither does the ecofeminist movement. This movement began as a metaphorical and conceptual tool used to highlight the inability of a single-axis framework work to capture the lived experiences of black women.  Feminists and eco feminists intersectionality attempts to attend to the variety of ways in which women live and the range of circumstances, which influence their often vastly differing experiences. (Cacildia Cain)

I want to clearly state my findings on the matter and let you in on a secret I love the environment.  Telling you how much the environment means to me and as an environmentalist and feminist, intersectionality is important.  A friend of mine who is half black and white comes from multiple backgrounds. She once stated that we all benefit from oppression, even the oppressed.  The vicious cycle goes around and around and around. Intersectionality offered a ‘new twist’ on critical ecofeminism by offering a “nodal point” (Lykke 2005) for disparate approaches to contribute to ecofeminist scholarship and explore the effects of sexism, class, homophobia, caste systems, and racism on women and their relationship with the environment.  (Intersectionality reading). If ecofeminist want to help the planet in a deeper sense we need to be using intersectionality as the lens we are looking out of.

Ecofeminists need to be looking at the global south and land degradation with the oppression of women with a different lense than the women who are suffering from land degradation in flint Michigan.  These women come from different backgrounds and the racism, sexism, caste and religion is different. The black women of Flint Michigan who are marginalized the most here are being attacked in a different way.  The lead in the water and the poison is hurting predominantly poor black women. They are having miscarriages and are becoming sterile, unable to get access to fresh water and water filters they can’t afford. While this is caused from the hierarchical stand point of white supremacy and patriarchal domination.  Something Audre Lorde says we need to abolish all together. In this we can see that women and the environment are being overseen and the ones that are suffering the most are lower class marginalized black women. Without looking at our prejudices we are missing the point. It isn’t just about justice for women and the environment it’s about taking on racism, sexism, religion, castes, and so much more we may not be looking at.  We are fighting a system through many different lens and no one community or person is the same.