Article in the Journal of Academic Social Sciences · September 020 doi: 10. 29228/jasss. 45458 citations reads 4,242 author: Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects
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| Hierarchies as Cultural Vehicles
As a result of the male-centred hierarchies, the system allows the culture to overpower nature. However, the system ignores the fact that nature is the essence of every living and non-living creature. As Terry Eagleton states, although culture evolves from nature, people perceive culture as the opposite of nature (2000:7). In addition to this, cultural vehicles which humans utilise to transfigure nature also come from nature (Eagleton, 2000:8). Therefore, culture is a part of nature, and nature is the beginning of the world, and culture/nature hierarchy is an artificial system created by humans. Nature is independent intrinsically, and culture evolves, thanks to nature. As Lori Gruen points out, nature is also intrinsically precious (1997:363). For example, if to analyse from the scientific perspective, Georges Lemaître's the Big Bang demonstrates that the cosmos and environment are known to occur before all belief systems, cultures and norms. Yuval Noah Harari exemplifies in his book Sapiens and the Brief History of Humankind the steps of the genesis that emerge with the Big Bang theory. He mentions that firstly the physical universe, secondarily, the substances and their transactions; thirdly the organisms such as unicellulars, animals, humans and plants, and lastly the homo-sapiens along with history and culture emerged (2019:19). Hence, first, the physical environment develops, then the cultural beliefs. Also, in the Greek creation myth, there is emptiness before everything else, called Chaos. After the Chaos, Gaia comes into existence, which symbolises the mother of land, or in other words, nature. In this narrative, the humanity reaches civilisation when Prometheus gives fire to the human race. Thus, even though nature is independent, humans use the richness of it; and they create the dominant human culture and claim superiority over nature. For these reasons, even though culture has a more dominant position, the dependency of nature to culture is a cultural process. Nature's subordination and the hegemony of culture is a result of humankind's effort. Similarly, although men and women are homo-sapiens, and they both have the same fundamental capabilities, men dominate over women. However, Friedrich Engels mentions that societies were not always male-centred; there existed matrilineal societies in prehistorical times (2004:11). According to Engels, when men discovered how to use nature and sparked an agricultural revolution in prehistory, they became wealthy and gained dominance. Hence, men’s discovery of the environment caused the male-hegemony and led societies to be male-centred. Therefore, Engels asserts that women’s subordination is an unnatural process done by men (2004:9). In this way, claiming that matriarchal states also existed, Engels highlights that women can also have dominant positions in society. This idea puts forward the belief that women are as powerful as men. Thus, the dominance of men is a cultural and artificial process. Harari also believes that the division between women and men is a cultural factor. However, Harari notifies that the cultural factors between genders emerge due to biological factors (2019:154). Therefore, the inferiority and subordination of women to men is an indirect situation; the system uses women's fertility as a weapon to subdue them. In this way, just like the An Overview of Ecofeminism: Women, Nature and Hierarchies 712 culture/nature hierarchy, men/women hierarchy is also a cultural condition generated by the male- dominance. While the male-centred system subdues nature to culture, it also causes women’s submission to men. As a result, although the male-centred systems put forward inequalities, nature is not dependent on culture, and men and women are equals naturally. The narrative of Adam and Eve is a palpable example of the emergence of hierarchies like men/women, human/nature and culture/nature. The story reveals the man/woman, culture/nature and human/nature dualities, by highlighting the unequal relationship between them. In the first narrative, God creates nature, and then, Adam and Eve. Later, God orders man and woman to dominate over the animals, waters, air and each living being in the world. Here, Adam and Eve appear in the story simultaneously, and they subdue nature. According to Carolyn Merchant, there exists equality between the two sexes in the first narrative (2003:22). Besides, Merchant also states that this narrative describes nature as a dreamlike land, and that the animals and plants are magnificent (2003:17). Thus, although nature occurs before anything else, Adam and Eve oppress nature. In addition to this, in the second narrative, after creating nature, God first creates Adam, lets him rule over the animals and land. After realizing that Adam is lonely, God makes a female companion for him out of his rib bone. Therefore, there is gender equality in the first narrative; however, in the second narrative, the equality is destroyed. Also, in both narratives, there is a human/nature hierarchy, as humans overpower the environment. In this way, Adam dominates over Eve and nature; he is the authority in the garden. Just as Merchant remarks, as a man, Adam is the representation of the Father, the Lord, dominance, order and republic in the Genesis (2013:21). On the other hand, Eve is the representation of submission and inferiority because she communicates with the serpent that tricks her. Thus, in the creation myth Eve allegorically symbolises the garden and nature, and she is inferior to Adam (Merchant, 2003:21). As Elmas Şahin also remarks, women’s subordination to men and their sin occurs with the emergence of humankind (2015:85). As a result, the narratives impose both man/woman and human/nature hierarchies. Adam subjugates Eve, and humankind overpowers nature. Therefore, the creation myth is an example of how the hierarchies become a part of the Western male-dominant culture. In addition to these hierarchies, the story also uncovers the culture/nature hierarchy. When Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, they suddenly experience a change. God acknowledges that Adam and Eve have explored insufficiency (Ruether, 2005:116). Adam and Eve realize that their natures are different from each other. They eat the forbidden fruit because of Eve. Since Eve, as Susan Griffin states, is “the Devil's Gateway”, and that “sin and afterwards death came into the world because Eve consorted with the devil in the body of a serpent” (1979:9) God punishes Eve more severely. God augments her childbearing pain, and orders Adam to rule over her. Hence, due to Eve's curiosity and her closeness to nature, God puts forward inequality between genders. Therefore, the forbidden fruit causes the hierarchical order between Adam and Eve; however, it also gives rise to the culture/nature hierarchy. The fruit causes the transition from naturalness to civilisation. After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve obtain a new belief, custom and social behaviour. They start acting differently and cover themselves with the leaves, which symbolise the exploit of nature for the cultural improvement. Thus, the fruit represents the emergence of culture by using natural resources. This enlightenment drags Adam and Eve to oppressing naturality, and assuming new behaviours. Besides, after the realisation, Adam and Eve begin realising each other's differences. Therefore, the fruit which leads to the emergence of culture causes the polarisation between the genders. As a result, the story conveys the message that men should not comply with nature and women because they are inferior to them. The story also underlines that humans use nature in order to shape the culture. Therefore, the narrative puts forward also the dominance of culture over nature. Consequently, by emphasising women's closeness to nature, the narratives expose man/woman, human/nature and culture/nature hierarchies. |