Monoculture & Mono-woman: An Ecofeminist Critique

Authors

  • Daniella Orias Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Florida Atlantic University
  • Jane Caputi Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Florida Atlantic University

Keywords:

ecofeminism, monoculture, environment, GMO (genetically modified organisms), advertising, beauty

Abstract

I explore and compare the consumerist view of women with the consumerist view of food, specifically seeds, in Western culture. Western propaganda conceptualizes women as domesticated and dominated and views nature in the same light. As a result of media manipulations, a monoculture and a mono-woman have arisen. Through the alteration of seeds, we have created a standard for fruits and vegetables sculpted around the ideal of perfection imposed by science and man. Similarly, the advertisement industry has shaped a new paradigm of women’s beauty (mono-woman).

Author Biography

Jane Caputi, Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Florida Atlantic University

Dr. Caputi arrived at Florida Atlantic University in 1997 as one of two faculty in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to FAU, she was Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico.  Her primary research is in contemporary cultural studies, including popular culture, gender and violence, and environmental feminism.  She is the author of three books, The Age of Sex Crime; Gossips, Gorgons and Crones: The Fates of the Earth; and Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power and Popular Culture.  She also collaborated with Mary Daly on Websters’ First Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language, and has made an educational documentary, The Pornography of Everyday Life.  She also was FAU’s Distinguished Teacher for 2001, and received FAU’s Research and Scholarly Activities award (Professor level) for 2005.

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Published

2013-05-31