In the fields of sustainability and environmental ethics, ecofeminism is a field of study that attempts to explain the relationship between the exploitation of women and nature. For the purpose of this blog post, I want to focus specifically on the idea that men are typically a dominating force in nature whereas women are seen as more passive. At the end of the chapter, Kasson discusses Herland, a fictional place consisting of only women. They live in unity with the planet, without conflict with the elements, the wilderness, or with each other, and have evolved the ability to birth only girls without any contribution from men. Two of the men who travel to Herland are able to fit into the society (though not without completely changing its views of sexuality, another show of male influence), but one man is unable to control his need to dominate the society by attempting to rape his wife (p. 214).
Men of the early 20th century felt like cogs in the system. Each had dreams of rising to the top, but economic strife and limited opportunity did not allow this sort of upward mobility for most men. In a society that valued domination, they felt passive. Thus, fictional stories like Tarzan and Death of a Salesman and real stories like those of Ishi and Knowles became popular. Men who felt that they could not dominate in the society in which they lived held onto the belief that the two (most masculine) things they could still conquer were women and nature. They reflected their longing to dominate women and nature onto the men of these stories, though they disregarded the gentle appreciation for nature held by Ishi and instead embraced their idea of what it meant to truly live and conquer "the wild." All-in-all, it was interesting to read these examples, both historical and fictional, of ecofeminist theories of male domination in a book about "The Perfect Man."
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