Women rank lower than men because their reproductive roles are tied to nature

Evidence

Anthropologists have pointed out that nature and women are both perceived to be on a lower level than culture, which has been associated symbolically and historically with men. Because women’s physiological functions of reproduction, nurture, and childrearing are viewed as closer to nature, their social role is lower on the cultural scale than that of the male. Women are devalued by their tasks and roles, by their exclusion from community functions whence power is derived, and through symbolism. — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 591

Categorization

• XREF: Links to anthropological theory and the course’s ecofeminist/multispecies strand about gender-nature associations. — connects to: Women’s traditional labour mirrors nature as mere enabling background to male achievement. — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 105; Protestant leaders grounded women’s subordination in the order of nature itself — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology,…, 597; Female reproductive biology subordinates individual life to species demands — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Female reproductive biology subordinates individual life to species demands #exemplifies (0.92) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 97
• Species reproduction increasingly alienates the female as individuality increases #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 96
• Women-nature identifications are historical constructions, not biological essences #complicates (0.85) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 49
• The human concept carries masculine bias because gender and nature dualisms intertwine #expands (0.82) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 140
• Protestant leaders grounded women’s subordination in the order of nature itself #contradicts (0.78) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 597
• The mechanistic worldview sanctioned domination of both nature and women #expands (0.75) — Carolyn Merchant, The Death of Nature, 64
• Observed male-female differences reflect social situation, not fixed essence #contradicts (0.75) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 608
• Proximity to nature indicates society’s assigned humanness ranking #expands (0.72) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1095