Ynestra King Summary

i. Ynestra King indicates that as a result of the increasing of environmental movement and environmental crisis, a number of women started to aware of the way nature and women are badly treated by male-dominant society.

a. Besides, ecofeminists want to create more awareness among feminists about environmental problems because both nature and women are devalued and objectified by patriarchy (qtd. in Brammer 1).

i. Therefore, ecofeminists encourage the deconstruction of patriarchal and capitalistic systems which create inequity among the society in order to free women and save the planet.

1. The emergence of ecofeminism in literature departments in the United States wildly occurred during the 1990s.

a. It is a study of the relationship between

e. It is generally believed among ecofeminists that “patriarchal society is built on four interlocking pillars; sexism, racism, class exploitation and environmental destruction” (Sinha 11).

f. In contrast to patriarchal concept, ecofeminism views humans and nature as a part of an interconnected living web.

i. As Marti Kheel points out that the wholeness in term of ecofeminism is “holistic awareness of the interconnectedness of all particular being in the lived experience of the individual-in-whole” (373).

g. However, most of modern ecofeminists do not agree to this aspect because they think it is very sexist ideologies.

i. They argue that ecofeminism should be available for everyone without concerning about their genders, races, religion even ages.

A. The ideas of ecofeminism are reflected through Pocahontas and Pocahontas II.

1. As Plumwood states before that nature is female, in both Pocahontas and Pocahontas II nature is personified and gendered as a woman.

a. The clearest example is Grandmother Willow.

i. She is a Willow tree which can talk because she has the spirit of Pocahontas’

To start with civilized/primitive, the English colonizers can symbolize patriarchal power because they all are men.

i. In addition, they are White from England, so they regard themselves as a civilian who believe that they have full rights to “teach” the tribes (00:38:35). ii. In this film, Smith tells Pocahontas that “[t]here [is] so much [they] can teach” because they can “[improve] the lives of savages all over the world” (00:38:36). iii. Thus, it can be concluded that the colonizers are portrayed as a ruler as they have power to order others to do as they want.

b. In contrast to those White men, the Native Americans can represent femininity which is devalued as they are looked down by the Englishmen as “a savage.”

i. In Pocahontas, Ratcliffe also call the Native American as “filthy heathens” (00:18:55) which means people who do not acknowledge any religions. ii. Moreover, the tribes are presented that they behave inappropriately in Pocahontas II because Pocahontas has to change herself in order to fit in the “elite of British society” (00:35:20) society.

c. However, there are not only the inequity between the White and the Indians shown in both films but also between male and