Feminism and the Mastery of Nature

Val Plumwood (1939–2008) was an Australian ecofeminist philosopher deeply critical of the “androcentric,” or male-centered, viewpoint she identified at the heart of what she called the “standpoint of mastery.” Plumwood argues in this essay that such a view is built on a false dichotomy that strictly separates reason (associated with males) from non-reason or feeling (associated with females). By extension, this distinction also splits culture (seen as the sole creation of men) from nature (seen as the province of women; hence, “Mother Nature”). Because this is so, Plumwood and other ecofeminists argue, men have seen the natural world like the world of women, as ripe for plunder, subordination, and…