Moon Phases, Menstrual Cycles, and Mother Earth: The Construction of A Special Relationship Between Women and Nature

Ethics and the Environment, 4(2):197-209 Copyright © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. ISSN: 1085-6633 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. Karl Marie Norgaard Moon Phases, Menstrual Cycles, and Mother Earth: The Construction of A Special Relationship Between Women and Nature Ecofeminists write at length on the association of women and nature, yet I meet so few women on my hiking and river trips. With what kind of nature are women associated? When we speak of nature do we mean menstrual cycles or red rock canyons? In what ways are women distant from nature? With all the emphasis on the familiar correspondence between men/culture and women/nature, ecofeminists have ignored important constructions of femininity as a civilizing force on a savage masculinity common on the Western frontier. And ecofeminists describe women associated with the private rather than public sphere, but is nature in the private sphere? Why have these images, like those of a nonviolent, non-oppressive association between men and nature, been downplayed in favor of a story about connections between women and nature? This summer my male partner SaIm and I taught a field course on environmental issues that included ecofeminist material. As he listened to my survey of the many ways women are connected with nature, he began thinking of cases where men are associated with nature. We discussed cultural images of males in nature ranging from Tarzan to the Greek gods Pan and Dionysus; we pondered the ways our culture naturalizes male violence and aggression, and why sports teams so often use animal mascots . And he began asking questions: "What about these connections between men and nature, what is their significance?" And, on a more personal level he wanted to know, "if women can find belonging and political empowerment by connecting with nature, what are men supposed to do?" Although we have talked before, the conditions of the summer gave us much time for discussion as we hiked through the wilderness areas of Northern California. SaIm's questions prompted me to ask, where is the feminist analysis of male relationships with nature? Why have these relationships— Direct all correspondence to: K. M. Norgaard, University of Oregon, Department Sociology, Eugene, OR 97403; Phone: (541) 346-5063; E-mail: karimn@darkwing.uoregon.edu 197 198 ETHICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT Vol. 4, No. 2,1999 beyond the general description of male distance from nature or male desire to conquer nature—been ignored? To what extent are current ecofeminist constructions of closeness between women and nature reinforcing gender norms that distance men from nature , or link men to nature only through violence? This paper will explore a number of contradictions to the theme of a special relationship between women and nature by examining associations between men and nature and ways that women may be considered distant from nature. I will suggest a variety of reasons why literature in women and environment, ecofeminism, and feminist political ecology has chosen this particular story about a special connection between women and nature (and thus failed to include other stories), and I will ask whether ecofeminist constructions of gender inadvertently reinforce the very social and ecological relations so many of us critique. Although much of my discussion will be directed towards ecofeminism, the fields of women and environment and feminist political ecology share the emphasis on women and nature to which I refer. I recognize that whether theorists see relationships between women and nature as biological or social has been the subject of much writing and criticism between theorists who consider themselves to be in different fields. But at this point, the fact that there is now such a large body of literature focusing on relationships between women and nature (or environment) sets up a cultural story that is present across fields. I will use the term special relationship to refer to the full range of ways that women and nature have been connected. I write from an ecofeminist perspective, that is, with the aim of examining how constructions of gender, race, and nature interact to facilitate sexism, racism, and the domination of nature. I write as well with the belief that the more than human world of nature or...