Greta Gaard’s article, “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism,” explores the important connections between ecofeminist and queer theories, arguing that they need to work together to achieve true liberation and create a democratic, ecological society. She believes that the current disunity among progressive movements in the United States hinders their collective success, and that a queer ecofeminist approach can help build necessary coalitions.
Toward a Queer Ecofeminism
Gaard starts by noting that while many ecofeminists recognise heterosexism as an issue, there hasn’t been a deep, systematic study of how ecofeminist and queer theories intersect. She argues that simply adding “heterosexism” to a list of oppressions isn’t enough, and that queer voices need to speak for themselves within ecofeminist discourse.
1. Linking Oppressions through Dualisms and Devaluation: At the heart of her argument is the idea that Western culture’s devaluation of the erotic, women, and nature are all interconnected and mutually reinforcing. She explains how Western thought is built on “value dualisms” – pairs of opposing concepts where one is valued more highly (e.g., culture/nature, male/female, reason/emotion). These dualisms create a “master model” that establishes a dominant “self” and subordinates an “other”. Gaard insists that ecofeminists must explicitly add dualisms like heterosexual/queer and reason/the erotic to this framework.
She explains that dominant groups (the “master”) rely on the “other” but deny this dependency (backgrounding), exaggerate differences while minimising commonalities (radical exclusion), set their own qualities as the standard (incorporation), treat the “other” as a resource (instrumentalism), and see the dominated as a uniform group (homogenisation). Queer individuals experience these operations: their identity is crucial but denied by heterosexuality, their eroticism is stereotyped, and heterosexuality is the unquestioned norm against which they are defined.
Gaard contends that the core problem is Western culture’s erotophobia – a profound fear of the erotic that allows only one very specific, sanctioned form of sexuality. The oppression of queer people, therefore, stems from the mutually reinforcing dualisms of heterosexual/queer and reason/the erotic.
2. Challenging “Natural” Sexuality: A crucial point Gaard raises is the contradiction in how “nature” is used: oppressed groups are seen as “closer to nature,” yet queer sexualities are condemned as “against nature”. This condemnation stems from equating “natural” with “procreative”. She highlights that sexuality itself is socially constructed, with the concepts of “homosexual” and “heterosexual” identities being relatively recent inventions (late 19th century). Historically, queer sexual behaviours shifted from being seen as sinful to “crimes against nature” and then as a psychological problem.
Gaard argues that the idea that queer sexualities are “unnatural” has two major flaws:
• Diversity in Nature: It doesn’t reflect the vast variety of sexual practices found in other species, including same-sex behaviours, hermaphroditism, and non-reproductive sexual activity.
• No Universal Norms: It’s flawed to derive human behavioural norms from other species.
She concludes that attempts to “naturalise” one form of sexuality are really efforts to control discourse, foreclose sexual diversity, and are a manifestation of Western culture’s homophobia and erotophobia.
3. The Role of Christianity and Colonialism: Gaard then traces the historical roots of these oppressions, arguing that Christianity and imperialist nation-states have, for nearly two millennia, portrayed heterosexuality, sexism, racism, classism, and the oppression of nature as divinely ordained. While acknowledging different ecofeminist perspectives on pre-Christian matrifocal societies, she asserts that all agree Christianity has been used to authorise the subordination of women, nature, people of colour, animals, and queers.
Early Christianity, an urban and ascetic cult, opposed all sexual acts not explicitly for procreation, and its hierarchical structure aligned with Roman values. This led to a series of violent persecutions from the 4th to 17th centuries, including the Inquisition and witch burnings, which targeted those perceived as “nature”.
• The Inquisition persecuted groups with prominent women, pagan asceticism, and tolerance for “Gay sex”.
• The witch burnings explicitly linked witchcraft to women’s “inferior nature” and perceived sexual practices, including same-sex behaviours and gender nonconformity (e.g., Joan of Arc was burned for wearing men’s clothing).
• The colonisation of the Americas was justified in part by the perceived “sinfulness” and “unnatural” sexual behaviours of indigenous peoples, including their tolerance for “sodomy” and transgender individuals (like the nadleeh). The Spanish colonisers, for example, were horrified by the Kogi’s lack of male domination and acceptance of homosexual and transgender identities, using this “inner fear” to justify genocide. Even non-Christian heterosexual practices were condemned as “bestial”.
Gaard terms this broad assault on sexuality erotophobia, rather than just homophobia, because it encompassed a wide range of sexual and gender expressions outside Christian norms. She links this to colonial nationalism, which defined itself against a feminised, eroticised, and “queered” native “other”. She argues that the coloniser’s masculinity implicitly requires a particular, contained heterosexuality. In this context, colonisation becomes an act of “compulsory heterosexuality,” metaphorically subduing the “queer erotic” of non-Western cultures into the “missionary position” with the conqueror “on top”.
4. Toward a Queer Ecofeminist Future: Gaard concludes that the historical period of the 16th and 17th centuries, with its simultaneous persecution of women (witch burnings), nature (through science), and indigenous peoples (through colonialism), reveals the ideological roots linking the erotic, queer sexualities, women, people of colour, and nature in oppression. To move forward, she calls for:
• Rejecting this colonisation by embracing the erotic in all its diversity.
• Building concrete coalitions for a shared liberation.
• Transforming Western conceptions of the erotic, moving beyond its opposition to reason, culture, humanity, and masculinity.
• Reconceptualising humans as equal participants in culture and nature, allowing for an exploration of the “eroticism of reason and the unique rationality of the erotic”. She emphasises that ecofeminists must be concerned with queer liberation, just as queers must be concerned with the liberation of women and nature, given their parallel oppressions.
Critical Evaluation
Greta Gaard’s “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism” is a powerful and ambitious theoretical intervention that aims to significantly expand the scope and depth of ecofeminist thought.
Strengths:
• Addressing a Crucial Gap: The article’s primary strength lies in its systematic and robust attempt to integrate queer theory into ecofeminism, moving beyond a superficial acknowledgment of heterosexism. It demonstrates that queer experiences are not merely an “add-on” but are fundamental to understanding and dismantling systems of oppression.
• Deepening Understanding of Interlocking Oppressions: By meticulously tracing the conceptual linkages between the devaluation of the erotic, women, nature, and people of colour through the “master model” and specific dualisms (including heterosexual/queer and reason/erotic), Gaard offers a more comprehensive and nuanced framework for analysing oppression.
• Historical and Cultural Analysis: The extensive historical analysis of Christianity and colonialism as forces that actively demonised and suppressed diverse sexualities and gender expressions provides a compelling argument for the deep-seated nature of erotophobia in Western culture. This historical context reveals how arguments of “unnaturalness” were used to justify violence, exploitation, and genocide against both people and nature.
• Challenging “Naturalness”: Gaard effectively dismantles the notion of “natural” sexuality by exposing its social construction and highlighting the vast sexual diversity in the animal kingdom. This undermines a key justification for heteronormativity and provides a basis for valuing sexual pluralism.
• Call for Coalition and Transformation: The article is not just theoretical; it’s a direct call to action for building concrete coalitions among diverse liberatory movements. It advocates for a profound transformation of cultural concepts, particularly regarding the erotic, which offers a path toward a more inclusive and democratic ecological future.
• Reconceptualising the Erotic: By proposing an exploration of the “eroticism of reason and the unique rationality of the erotic,” Gaard opens up new avenues for thinking about human connection to both culture and nature that transcend rigid dualisms.
Points for Consideration
• Complexity of Theoretical Integration: While the article meticulously builds connections, the sheer depth of philosophical concepts (Plumwood’s “master model,” Sedgwick’s “symmetrical binary oppositions”) and historical analysis can make it dense and challenging for readers not already familiar with these fields. This may limit its accessibility to a broader activist audience it aims to reach for coalition building.
• Conceptual vs. Practical Application: The article primarily focuses on conceptual and historical analysis, laying a crucial theoretical foundation. While it calls for coalition and transformation, it doesn’t delve into specific practical strategies for how a “queer ecofeminist perspective” would be implemented in direct environmental or social justice activism, beyond shifting fundamental understandings.
• Contested Terminology: Gaard acknowledges that the term “queer” itself is contested and has different resonances among various groups (e.g., urban academics vs. rural community members). This internal recognition highlights a potential challenge in fostering the broad coalitions she advocates for, as terminology can sometimes create barriers rather than bridges.
• Focus on Western Context: The historical analysis is primarily rooted in Western culture, Christianity, and European colonialism. While this is a critical focus for understanding Western oppression, the extent to which these specific historical trajectories and dualisms apply universally to all ecological and social justice struggles globally is not fully explored within this text.
In essence, “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism” is a foundational text that powerfully argues for the indispensable role of queer theory in achieving a truly liberatory and inclusive ecofeminist vision, fundamentally challenging how we understand nature, sexuality, and justice by exposing their shared historical and ideological roots in systems of domination.