11: Reproduction as Ecology by https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc Merchant and Heresies en-us 2017-12-29 07:28:44 UTC 2017-12-29 07:28:47 UTC hello@padlet.com sfatima1 https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136564 Talking about the women's interaction with the environment. Women have suffered a lot in their lives. I really enjoyed the article of small three paragraphs showing how much of protein women consume every day as she eats equal amount food as men. Showing women's willpower to do any kind of work that men do. Women can also do the heavy labor. I think if women can give birth to a child she can do every work through her body and through her mind. It showed that women can be equal to men through breaking the stereotype that women cant work as men does and that women are superior to men. I also really enjoyed the poems "the mother" and "I am Mirror" which truly explicit the value of women as a mirror and as a mother. It mentions that she doesn't feel anything about her tortured eyes from the culture and she is fresh and still women, even if facing so many difficulties in her life. Whereas in the other one she mentions the pain of women as "Unable to support so much love on her shoulders", this sentence shows a powerful truth that a mother is one of the greatest blessings from God. She gives so much love without asking anything in return. A mother is a woman too, due to which her children pull her off in many ways and hurt her just because she is a woman. maybe the reason could be that children and men take their moms and wifes as a slave who takes cares of everything day and night or to say they have a working salve 24 hours with them. This was a very sad truth that people are not ready to change this horrifying situation and are happy with it. In the end, it mentions "let us forget the words, let us forget, the hills born into trails move." I got really emotional while reading these lines which gives a message to the culture and the generations to come that women need to be free now. They really want their freedom and respect, as a sister, as a wife, as working women and much more as a human being. As this beautiful creature is created by God, not by men or the so-called culture, let them spread their wings so they could live happily too. Give them the freedom to speak, give them freedom so they can walk freely into the streets, give them the freedom to let them look at the world with their own eyes, not through the eyes of others. But how can any women forget what women have been through in past centuries for their generations to come or to say for us and our generations to come? as women are not supposed to forget, its men who are supposed to forget they won't get anything with their wild eyes looking for women everywhere. I think so we should let men forget that you didn't create this creature (women), its created from the one who created you too.]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136564 https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136565 Merchant's article reminded me of Ortner's article of relating female with the dichotomy of nature and culture. Merchant drew the relationship between female identity with the ability to distort nature. For the past few centuries men are used to think themselves as the keeper of the order of nature, and the disorder of nature would cause impurity and decay of society. Seeing femininity as nature's distortion force would automatically blame women for the decay and contamination of the society.  This gives the righteous justification for men to be the "order keeper" for women, and this begins with their taking control of female bodies. One of the symbols of female unruliness is the dark side of women - witch. Witches are believed to have the ability to release women's sexual power which men found intimidating. However, according to Merchant's article, a lot of witches were actually uneducated or oppressed women who saw the "possibility of revenge and control", and the fact that "no hierarchies stood between the witch and object of her will" encourages lots of women to believe in the cult. There are, however, justifications for witches. For example physician Johann Weyer believed in demons and "that witchcraft could be explained as the diabolic delusions they produced." However his fight against witch corporal punishment was highly sexist, that he justified witchcraft as "women as the weaker and more credulous sex". 
The ideology that connects women with distortion power for nature made men question female leadership that woman's rule creates a monster. The general mentality of men who think women deserve a lower place because of their physical weakness and close relation to unruly force of nature would "repress and bridle" women who are "presumptuous enough to rise above men". ]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136565 Disorder in Nature https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136569 From the Plurality of Worlds by Copernicus when he explained how he had replaced the mother earth with the masculine sun, it made no sense to me. Where I understand the concept of connecting gender with nature but when you think of the sun, it brings life to the earth, so wouldn’t be more feminine?. This is coming from the stereotypical views of how women are supposed to be gentle and nurturing and where their purpose is to give life and ensure that they can raise their children to become strong. From that, it would make more sense to call the sun more feminine than masculine because its purpose is to give light and to ensure life for those on earth can remain stable. Where it still confuses me on why we must label certain things masculine or feminine, is it to stabilize the power that men believe they have over women, so may that be why the sun is more important than the earth. In which without the earth, the suns rays seem to have no purpose without it giving energy for the earth to flourish.Which can be brought to the idea where without women having the ability to reproduce, then there is no next generation of boys to be raised by men based on the influences of a father figure. From what Copernicus wrote may have been prevalent to the 1600s but if it was questioned, it may be seen as taboo because back then men were seen as superior and that to him can be symbolized by the power of the sun. On the other hand, it still baffles me and makes me question more and make slightly upset that not everything powerful is masculine and classifying something feminine doesn’t mean its weak, it can be strong too. 

]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136569 https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136574 I thought the nature-culture dichotomy was interesting and had some truth to it. Women relating to nature and men relating to culture, "the assumption of a nature-culture dichotomy was used as a justification for keeping women in their place in the established hierarchical order of nature" (Merchant, 144). Moreover, the long-held control over society by men could be related to men's connection to culture and civilization. Merchant says, "true civilization can be achieved only through the full exercise of power and control in both the physical and mental realms" (Merchant, 130). Therefore, since women were not seen as being physically strong or mentally stable, a precedent was set for men to be the leaders. I was also alarmed at how women were either seen as witches (evil, troubled, violent) or as compared to nature (weak, inferior). I also found the ideals of Johann Weyer telling. Even in defending women accused of being witches, he says, "because of their sex are inconstant and of dubious faith, and because of their age incapable of clear thought. They are especially vulnerable to the devil's wiles" (Merchant quoting Weyer, 141). Furthermore, it is evident that even when women are being defended, it is strictly through antifeminist argument. ]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136574 Tamed https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136578 Merchant's article makes me think about a woman's life story: When she is a little girl, a virgin, the purity she processes is worthy of men's worship. After the second she hits puberty, which is at the age of 14 in the article, she becomes a sex craving monster who is filled with lust and desires. She becomes something that needs to be tamed and conquered. Then, after giving birth to children, she becomes a mother instead of a woman. The all-loving image puts her on the pedestal again. Then, after she is all used up by men, the old lady becomes that evil witch who deserves to be burned at a stake. 

The association between nature and women hasn't brought women any benefits, like the reverence or respect people have for nature. Men will retreat to nature or women when they want to escape from their daily life, but they are never part of their life. When men are not around them, men try to figure out ways to tame them. I think the article did a good job to explain the power dynamics. Men tend to see that culture is superior to nature. Culture is associated with civilization, particularly civilization created by men. Nature is the opposite of culture, so nature is seen as inferior, uncivilized and untamed. It's the same for women, Native American and everything that is outside of the scope of men's civilization. 

In the looking material, the radical feminism argues for the complete detachment between women and nature, because of the damaging effect of this association. However, the relationship between nature and women is not completely artificial. Instead of detaching women from nature, why not bring men to the nature? I am not talking about a hiking adventure or a hunting trip, but a complete reunion between nature and men, connecting the polars of this dichotomy. 


]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136578 Nature as Female aharwood4 https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136581 In her piece Nature as Female author Carolyn Merchant explores the cultural origins of associations between nature and woman. She finds that, throughout history, influential figures have often equated the natural world to that of the female because they supposedly share a passive characterization subject to male’s authority. Moreover, the language such figures used to describe mother-nature continue to “operate as ethnical constraints or sanctions as subtle oughts or ough-nots.” Through the characterization of the earth as a female, these men were attempting to assert control over its domains, labeling it as a docile being so that it could be used to their advantage no matter the social need. During the pastoral period, it was nature’s essence as a nurturing mother to provide security to its population. During the industrial period, it was nature’s essence as an evil stepmother who did not allow for her children to utilize her resources. No matter the time period, it is clear that man’s dominance over the natural world parallels with that of the social world. The use of the female as an object of passivity and subjectivity is so deeply engrained in the context of nature that we often forget its masculine origins. While our tendency to assign gender to other living things may be innate to the human’s social consciousness, mother-nature can indeed be considered a purposefully implemented exception to the rule. ]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136581 hkhawaj2 https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136587 The Nature as Disorder article was an interesting read. It shed light upon the stereotypes associated with women when it comes to witchcraft and nature. Women were typically seen as being uncontrollable and in need of a superior force to keep them under control. They were often blamed for tempting men for their corrupt behaviors. While the virgin nymph and earth mother were linked with peace, fertility, and nurture, the other side of women were thought of as being witches who caused illnesses and destroyed crops. They were thought of as lustful, violent, desiring carnal pleasure, and would do anything to lose their virginity. Additionally, women’s violent nature was manifested in her outburst of anger while the male’s aggression was justified due to his clouded thinking. It is unfortunate that such ridiculous stereotypes have been attached to women throughout history. 
 
I read a few of the other articles as well and found them all very eye-opening. The articles touched upon the issues of different systems of oppression in terms of race and class, radical and ecological feminism, and prejudice and victimization of Native Americans and gypsies.  
 
 


]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136587 Feminism and Ecology https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136591 I loved the looking article for this section. I thought the whole thing was powerful and informative and a large step in the right direction of giving women a voice and an equal voice at that. I didn't read the entire 100 pages, but I liked the aspect of the text and the images going together along with the different topics under the same umbrella term. Each woman involved had her own voice and had her own perspective. 

My favorite part of the entire issue was in the fourth paragraph of the editorial statement. It says, "The responsibility lies not only with those who would like to keep us powerless, but with ourselves. Communication and organization are at the heart of resistance. Art and culture are integral elements in resistance. Understanding this alone can help Us stop Them from moving mountains and changing the courses of nature." I found this to not only be empowering, but also to be a great explanation for what we have looked at in the course thus far. I specifically appreciated the "Us" and "Them" notion even though I do think it is a bit exaggerated. It definitely does its job of creating a bond of women and noting that everyone else who does not identify as that is "them" in this situation and especially for this publication. I also found it interesting how they connected the resistance and fight to nature and made the analogy of changing the course of nature. These few sentences were very powerful and made me proud to be a woman. ]]> 2017-12-29 07:28:45 UTC https://padlet.com/stuber_tracy/1w2xdyh3btbc/wish/218136591