Ecological violence and feminism

The development of ecological feminism or ecofeminism started in the 1960s, after feminist women’s movements and environmental advocacy movements found common points in theory and practice. The basic element that brought these two movements together in the historical process is the exploitation of women and the environment by the masculine system. Women’s struggle for existence and the struggle for protection of the environment is the common ground. Ecofeminism has made important contributions to recognizing the destruction of natural resources and plays a prominent role in the fight against global climate change.

“The Me” and “the Other”

Male-dominated culture follows a similar mindset in controlling nature and women. To understand the world always begins with a division of “the Me” and “the Other”. That is, only if a person knows who is “the Other”, it is possible (for him, for her) to understand his/her own self and the world. In primeval times when survival was a hard task, it was necessary to be always on guard against “the Other”. Therefore we can trace the attitude of “not accepting that the Other is a human being like us”, in other words the “Othering”, back to these ages. “Othering” is also observed between the genders. It is based on the assumption that women are disadvantaged in protecting herself and her baby during the birth process, and that it is not at women’s disposal whether to become pregnant or not, which led to concepts of “man” as having physical strength and “woman” having the attributes “other”, “weak”, “frail”, “slave”. Such attributions were expanded further, and whereas “man” was linked with “rationality”, “woman” was defined as “acting emotionally”, showing “unpredictable behaviour”, as “the Other”.

Interests of the male-dominated world

Similarly, parallel with the male-female category, dual categories such as master-slave, mind-nature, mind-emotion have been constructed, in which one category is more important than the other. Of course, this categorization has always been used in the interests of a male-dominated world. This categorizing of things and beings as important or insignificant, while benefiting the master or the male sovereign, has led to a perception of women and nature as tools: According to this understanding, women are a means for the survival of family life, and nature is a means for technological development and economic well-being of the masters/societies. From this point of view, the identification of woman with nature is not her fertility, not her being a caregiver, not the aesthetic expression of her body corresponding to natural inspiration, but her being - similar to nature – an object in a system of exploitation.

Geometric sceneries, wild groves

Especially with the advances in physics, chemistry, and mathematics in the 17th century, the control over and exploitation of nature by the masculine world increased, and the view began to prevail that the more “man”kind uses nature, the more profitable it will be, and that nature will eventually renew itself anyway. This domination of the masculine world over nature is not limited to industrial issues such as obtaining energy from natural resources. In Europe, where these developments took place, even scenic areas such as parks and gardens, were claimed to be a reflection of the hu“man” mind. Arrangements were made in nature until there was no single bush, no flower bed, which was not delimited or controlled by the (hu)“man”. By contrast, all groves and bushes that preserved their wildness were regarded as abnormalities that should be corrected.

Policies of agriculture and water

The way (this type of) modernization is imitated in Turkey reflects a similar approach. Uncontrolled industrialization was given prevalence at the expense of education. Most households in villages and towns have for various reasons been transferred to big cities, and an uncontrolled urbanization and concrete rage were accepted. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), more than half of the agricultural production in many developing countries such as Turkey are realised through women’s labour. However, agriculture and water policies are governed by the neoliberal, capitalist market system, which defends the interests of companies, observes only market conditions and ignores social welfare. Women living in regions, which have become infertile, are forced to migrate with their families, and suddenly they find themselves to be cheap labour force and the only or most important source of income for their family. In addition, apart from financing the household, women are expected to go home directly after work and do housework, very much unlike their husbands or brothers. Women, who in their villages could put a chair in front of their house and thus take part in social life, in the city are excluded from the public sphere and are left without neighbourhood solidarity, and they don’t even realise this. Deprived of their networks and left without support they face an increased risk of being subject to psychological and physical violence. In regions where Hydroelectric Power Plants (HEPPs) are built, villagers are forced to leave their private homes next to the river within a day or a week and to move to a concrete apartment of 50 square meters. Such changes primarily affect the lives of women, who are always more heavily involved in domestic labour than male members of the family. However, even if all biological needs are met, a human being is a creature that needs psychological and social resources to survive.

Solastalgia - Consolation pain

In recent years Australian psychiatrists have identified mental health problems caused by environmental destruction in nature in general and in the living areas of individuals, in particular, and they have put a name to it. Thus, the definition of solastalgia has begun to be accepted as one of mental health disorders. Solastalgia is derived from the Latin term sōlācium (consolation) and the Greek word algos (pain). It is a concept that describes a form of physical or existential stress caused by environmental changes, particularly environmental destruction. It can occur in the context of destructive mining methods, droughts, species extinction, and climate change. After all, feminist women’s movements and climate movements have come together on a common ground, facing a similar system of exploitation and destruction applied to nature and women. The common ground they both share is their concern that the neoliberal economic system does not tak into account that natural resources are exhaustible and that the destruction of the environment, even if it is not exhausted, will fall back on mankind and womankind in the form of diseases, famine and natural disasters. The reports of the United Nations indicate that women and children suffer disproportionately from migration during and after wars, economic and social crises and natural disasters. It is a well-known fact that people who tend to harm nature, animals and plants display a similar aggressive attitude towards humans. For this reason, it is necessary to include both gender equality and environmental issues in the economic and political agendas of the society as basically the same and only one issue. Both are an issue of public health.

1. Hande Aydın, clinical psychologist. She has a bachelor degree from Ege University Psychology Department (2002). Receiving a scholarship, she went to Melbourne Carinmillar Psychotherapy Institute in 2008 and submitted her master thesis on trauma-related disorders. Her interest in environmental issues led her to write the ecological novel Kuru Su (Dry Water) which was published by Ayizi Yayınevi, Ankara in 2017. Following this book another novel Amor Fati was published by Everest Yayınevi, Istanbul in 2019. For more than fifteen years Aydın has been living and working as a clinical psychologist in Ankara, continuing volunteer work within the Turkish Psychological Association Trauma Unit (Türk Psikologlar Derneği Travma Birimi). She is also a member of the Ecology Collective Association (Ekoloji Kollektifi Derneği) in Ankara.
2. The word ecology consists of oikos (house, living space) and logos (knowledge).