Environmental Values - Essay Example

in 1974 drew inspiration from the feminist movements in which feminist activists rebelled against the traditional oppression of women by domineering men. In many countries, even developed countries, women are the weaker gender and without voice and are forced to accept the exploitation by men. Ecofeminism attempts to relate these events to the fact that nature and environment is exploited by men in the same way and nature attempts to meekly accept this racism, species segregation and exploitation.

To a certain extent the main complaints and philosophy of the movement is indeed true and the arguments put forth by the movement is relevant. Man is the traditional defiler of all things and it is true that the major corporate positions in the world and in trade and industrial bodies are filled with men. Therefore, it would be men who constantly attempt to find new ways to exploit powerless nature, which cannot speak aloud. Later arguments of the Ecofeminism are at fault and their views on technology are not acceptable to me.

It must be noted that when man does exploit forests and pollutes the waters, the beneficiaries are also women who make up the wives, daughters, sisters, mothers and other relatives of men. By tacitly accepting the cutting down of forests and gathering wood for firewood, women are also equally responsible for this defilement. Ecofeminism concepts also want to do away with technology and move towards primitivism where small communities would grow food in the natural way. This is not possible in the modern age as we need technology to produce food for the billions of people and both men and women have to find jobs and earn a living.

So this philosophy is not acceptable. Schlosberg (1999) argues Pluralism or more specifically environmental pluralism places the right to exist for all things in nature, man, animals, plants and other inanimate entities such as water, air and earth that makes the environment. Then comes the concept of cost benefit