Feminism, Environmentalism, and Postmodernism - Essay Example

Feminism, Environmentalism, Postmodernism 12 November 2007 Feminism, Environmentalism, Postmodernism are connected by the philosophical thread of man’s desire to make sense of his world. Each philosophy has its own unique beliefs and customs that separate it in a major way from the other school of thought. Feminism has its roots in the blatant unequal treatment of males and females and the desire for women to be treated equally as men. Environmentalism originated from man’s desire to focus on his natural environment and to do what was humanly possible to preserve or conserve nature for the present and the future good of man.

Finally, postmodernism developed as a result of man’s rejection of ideas and practices of the modern era. Postmodernism is an attempt to change the way man formerly thought and used language. Feminism developed in three waves. The first ended in all women over the age of eighteen obtaining the right to vote. The second wave was a continuation of the struggles of the first as well as the awareness of the female’s personal life as absolutely joined to the politics of the day. The female viewed her life as a struggle in a male dominated source of political power.

The woman as child bearer and homemaker was challenged at every corner during this wave. Hence this second wave was concerned with an end to discriminatory practices in society against women. The third wave denoted a response to the apparent failure of the initiatives of the second wave. The third wave feminism adopted an ideology that is purported by postmodernism. Thus, the third wave usually focused on “micro politics”. These contemporary feminists advocate reconstruction of the entire society in order to bring about positive change.

They incorporate postmodernism as well as post-structuralism into the feminism debates. Hence, they viewed language as the source of construction for sex and gender. As postmodernist in nature, contemporary feminist view the history of females’ discrimination as unimportant. What was of concern was what will be done about these discriminatory practices that still exist today. Not only does contemporary feminism relate to postmodern thought but also to the environmentalist point of view. Feminism which can be linked to environmentalism is referred to as “ecofeminism” where the female believes that she should do everything within her power to ensure that a healthy environment is developed and maintained.

In fact such a group would campaign for the ending of the destruction of the land which is needed by the woman for the upkeep of her family. They view women as having a shared history with nature which has also been oppressed by the male dominated society. Consistent with these ideas of the “ecofeminists”, environmentalism is concerned with the general maintenance and preservation of the natural environment. Therefore, environmentalism is concerned with the annihilation of the destruction of natural resources through pollution or other activities performed by the members of society.

Interestingly, environmentalists like early feminists engaged in behaviors that attracted the attention of the entire society. Some environmentalists were known as “tree huggers” because they hugged trees in order to prevent them from being cut and burned. Likewise some feminists were known as “bra burners” because they burned their bras to demonstrate their disillusionment of society’s conditioning. Environmentalists like feminism are concerned with the rights of the human to live in an environment that is free of oppression and harm.

On the negative side, both environmentalism and a certain brand of feminism are seen as belonging to individuals of the upper echelon of society. Environmentalism is seen as an offspring of the upper class and feminism as belonging to the white middle class women. Contrastingly, postmodernism was a response to the very ideas as posited by the environmentalist and the feminist. The post modernist wanted an entire reassessment of al the ideas and value systems of feminism, environmentalism and other ideologies of the day.

They were therefore, critical of every idea that was put forward by these ideologies. Their focus was on meta-narratives and the use of language/text and meanings to promote change in the society. Works Cited Analyzing Politics