Nurturance may be empowered caring or servile ego-massaging.

Evidence

Some apparently innocent characteristics conceal crucial ambiguities of power; for example, ‘nurturance’ and ‘empathy’, qualities affirmed by some ecofeminists (Love and Shanklin 1984; Gearhart 1982). These can mean supporting others, being receptive to their needs and being concerned for and skilful in promoting their growth and welfare; or they can mean making powerful others feel good, bolstering masculinity and ego-massaging, the sensitivity of the slave to the needs and moods of the master. ‘Nurturance’ in the first sense is not necessarily a product of powerlessness, whereas in the second it is. The first sort of nurturance could be empowered in a society of equality, whereas the second could not, and calling for its empowerment is indeed self-refuting. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 260

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes two senses of nurturance/empathy — the master’s reading (servility) versus genuine care — a crucial precision for ecofeminist ethics.
• XREF: Echoes ch9’s master/slave analysis: the second sense of nurturance is ‘the sensitivity of the slave to the master’, directly product of the dualistic structure. — connects to: Caring for another’s flourishing need not displace one’s own interest. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 569; Renouncing ego and control is required for authentic erotic reciprocity.
• SEED: Care ethics needs a power analysis: distinguishing empowered care from servile caretaking as an essay angle for eco-justice pedagogy.

Broader Connections

• Caring for another’s flourishing need not displace one’s own interest. #expands (0.75) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 569
• Renouncing ego and control is required for authentic erotic reciprocity. #qualifies (0.72)