didn't we learn in 2nd grade that generalizations are bad?
While I find that Williams has a point in drawing a connection between the subjection of women and subjection of land, I think she does an awful job in presenting her case. Her stance on the issue and writing in this essay alienates too many for it to be an effective piece. While I am pro-equal rights, I tend to think that extreme feminism is just a reversal of sexism. The essay is teeming with generalizations that I think detract from any point that she may have and discredit her.
To say that women have a spiritual connection to the land is an outrageous generalization. I don’t even know what that means. Spiritual connection has nothing to do with whether you have one x-chromosome or two in my estimation. Williams and her friend may have a special connection to the land, just the same as men such as Thoreau or Abbey. I’m sure there are millions of women and men who have no spiritual connection to the land. It’s about your principles, not your anatomy.
What I think causes an alienation from nature is not an inherent loss of intimacy realized at birth, but a need for wealth and power that grasps some(of both sexes) later in life. Williams talks about the perpetrators of destructive actions against the earth as being men who have lost touch with themselves. I think she should be blaming people who have forgotten other factors and now think only of themselves.
The key issue here however is the continuation of the “blame game�. We’ve had this discussion before about science and religion. Pointing fingers only allows the problem to continue to grow while we squabble amongst ourselves. Williams gives a recommendation that men change their ways, but spends most of the essay bashing our actions. Maybe we should all change our ways. Maybe women and men are having an equally negative impact on the environment. What does it mean that women have a special spiritual connection to the land that men don’t? If they do then why don’t I see a drastic difference in the way that men and women treat the earth? Until I see that there is a remarkable difference, I will refuse to accept the point that Williams makes.
There is no difference between men and women. There is a difference between people who care and people who don't.