The Good-Natured Feminist: Ecofeminism and the Quest for Democracy

Rating:
Summary: Baffled by Sandilands
Review: I can honestly say that there is little in Catriona Sandilands book that I understand. Prior to reading this book I was not educated in the topic of feminism not to mention eco-feminism. After reading The Good-Natured Feminist I am no more educated in feminism nor eco-feminism. This is definitely not the book for someone to read if the topic is new to him or her.
One idea I was able to pick up from the book is the idea that females have a stronger connection to nature than males. Beginning with the act of reproduction, Sandilands points out that women have a much more connected experience than men; "...women experience the value and continuity of life, in contrast to men, who experience separation from new life beginning at the moment of ejaculation and continuing through birth and suckling" (23). In history, the female roles of childbirth, childrearing and keeping a home have been perceived to be more natural while the male roles have been more directed toward physical work and production. I found Sandilands discussion of this point interesting. I had never really noticed it prior to reading this book but since I have found myself thinking about this idea often.
This is probably where my understanding of the book ends. Sandilands does a poor job of offering an introduction to the idea/concept of eco-feminism. Perhaps this was not her objective. Perhaps the intended audience of the book was a more informed group of people than I. If this is indeed the case, maybe Sandiland's book makes sense and is actually very intriguing. However, with my lack of background in this topic or related topics, I was completely lost and Sandilands failed to capture my interest.
As I began the book, I thought "the more I read the more I will understand". So I continued reading, not really comprehending anything I had just read, in the hopes that some great revelation would hit me and I would suddenly understand Sandilands's language. This never happened. It eventually got to the point that I just wanted to stop reading altogether.
In the end, I decided this book was meant for a much more educated audience. Therefore, Sandilands thoughts are wasted on my mind because I simply cannot follow her, through the examples, big words, and experts she introduces. If someone does understand this book perhaps he or she would be kind enough to fill me in.

Rating:
Summary: theory to live by
Review: i love this book. it is one of the few books that i've come across that really speaks to my position. with evey page, i feel like i come closer to a workable ethical and political position. cate sandilands brings together different kinds of theory, and works towards imagining a political project that can be truly liberatory. this is one of my five most treasured theory books. highly recommneded!

Rating:
Summary: Ecofeminism
Review: The Good Natured Feminist: Ecofeminism and the Quest for Democracy, by Catriona Sandilands analyzes ecofeminism and the recent debate that surrounds radical democracy. This book is hard to understand if one has not read books written by Lacan, Arendt, and Laclau and Mouffe. I personally have not read these authors, but have derived a sense of what is being said through Sandilands interpretation of them. I feel that I have actually read multiple authors when it was all said and done. This is due to the fact that I am not very well informed about ecofeminisms' relationship with democracy, and had to look up many ideas and words to understand what is being said.
Sandilands has divided her book up into two parts. The first section of the book analyzes the idea that almost all ecofeminism ideas are incorrect. One major fallacy stated by Sandilands deals with man being much more distant from nature than women are. This also deals with the idea that men basically "rape" Mother Nature due to a need for power in society. I personally agree with the Sandilands on the idea that women and nature are not more closely related than man and nature. Today there are very few stay at home moms out there that do not work. Today, it is more common for men and women to obtain jobs. This is an era of men and women equality and hence would cause this idea to be false.
In the second section of this book Sandilands gets her point through that ecofeminism in general has a good view on ideas. She makes a good argument because she expresses both sides and views of how women and ecology should work together. I believe that man and women belong to nature and are a part of it, not the other way around. We make of nature what we individually want to make of it. There is no sex relatedness to nature because in this day and age man and women can deal with things the same and hence provide no limitations or barriers on who can do what.