A Queer Ecofeminist Reading of “Matsuri [Festival]“ by Hiromi Ito

Abstract

Greta Gaard’s 1997 paper “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism“ was long awaited by ecofeminists who were interested in queer theories, and queer theorists who were interested in ecofeminist theories, in part, perhaps, because it addresses the simultaneous emancipation of women, nonhuman-nature, and queers. Gaard signals a significant connection among the three agencies by incorporating a queer perspective into ecofeminism, noting that conventional ecofeminism has lacked the variable of sexuality. She argues that from a queer ecofeminist perspective, it becomes clear that liberating women requires liberating nonhuman-nature and queers. Alongside ecofeminist Val Plumwood, Gaard sees a necessity for dismantling the dualisms of male/female, human/nonhuman-nature, and heterosexual/queer as integral to the project, for the right sides of such dualisms are all conceptually linked and have historically been oppressed (see also Estok; Morton). This is to incorporate a perspective of nonhuman-nature into the claim of British literary scholar Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick that society is constructed based on the trilogy of homosociality, gender discrimination, and heterosexism. Simply put, queer ecofeminism is the enterprise to voice nature, women, and queers.