Diamond parallels the abuse of nature and the abuse of women to
challenge ecological and feminist assumptions about population
control and fertility. Though "not questioning the basic feminist
insistence that men have long controlled women in a variety of
damaging ways," Diamond (Political Science/Univ. of Oregon) does
question the ways in which feminist discourse has focused on owning
and controlling the body. She proposes that western feminism has
developed within the masculinist ideology of power, including
control of nature and the earth. Thus, much of the discourse of
women's liberation reinforces the will toward technological mastery
by emphasizing ownership of bodies and control of fertility.
Diamond demonstrates the need for diversity, both ecologically and
culturally, if we are to renew our relationship with the earth,
beginning with respect for local and culturally specific
connections to the environment. Relying heavily on the work of
Foucault, Diamond develops the idea of the sexuated body, "the body
defined exclusively by sex," as the root of the western focus on
owning our bodies. Although her notion of the sexuated body is
appealing, Diamond never quite develops its significance for her
argument. Recognizing the conflicts of living in a technologically
driven society, but not recognizing the tremendous gains women have
made, Diamond does convincingly argue that we need to challenge the
language of power: She advocates focusing on and celebrating
fertility of both women and the earth, and challenging technology
that provides sex without consequences, reproduction without sex,
and food without sweat. However, she doesn't follow through on the
consequences of her argument or offer specific means of
accomplishing this new existence. Avoiding romantic calls to return
to the wilderness and arguments about women's inherent alliance
with nature, Diamond directs attention to the cyclical nature of
life and death, and provides a stepping stone for future
ecofeminist efforts. (Kirkus Reviews)
Feminism's emphasis on birth control is challenged in a study which
reveals the masculine and mechanistic assumptions underlying
arguments for birth control and abortion, and the belief that
women's freedom comes from control of their bodies and their
fertility. Writing as an ecofeminist, not as an anti-abortionist,
she argues that the control of fertility denigrates women's bodies
and exploitation of the earth, and that the West's preoccupation
with population control in the Third World is both racist and
imperialist.
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