Environmental Values Paper - Essay Example

I value the environment as something that should be valued and, ethically speaking, it should be treated the way we would want to be treated. In the long run, if the environment continues to be damaged in the ways that it has been, it will only backfire on us, making this world an unsafe place for us to live. Although the environment is failing due to our negligence, it is still considered a comfortable place for us. However, this will not continue if we do not take action. To accomplish this, people need to understand and embrace the fact that they are not superior to nature (Michael, 1999), that they each require the other to live to its full potential.

Ecofeminism is the movement that strives to find common ground between environmentalism and feminism (Reuther, 2003). The argument is that the same oppression and degradation that women face is the same that the environment is putting up with. That is to say, the degradation is being done in masculine attitudes and methods, such as what women are used to. It is because of this common bond that many women have taken to fight for the rights of the environment, just as they had to fight for their own rights.

There is much controversy about this concept, though there are many that can at least agree or relate to the fundamentals of it, such as other minority groups. These people understand what it is like to be mistreated and the feeling of finally breaking through to fairness and freedom. The important principle of this movement is that there are people that understand what the environment is going through. They are willing to provide support and respect for the environment that they themselves had fought for and are still fighting for.

If there are more people that can relate to and understand what the environment is going through, then there are more that are willing to help it. These are the