The Arguments Of Dualism

Male domination of other humans and nature is one of the major arguments in ecofeminism. The domination of men is established through certain patriarchal set patterns that prevail in society. One such societal framework that elevates men and masculinity and devalues female, femininity, nature and other subordinated humans with respect to class, race, and gender is dualism. J. E. Cirlot (2001) in his A Dictionary of Symbols defines dualism as “any system which implies a binary pattern, but which is characterized less by a complementary thesis and antithesis tending to resolve into a synthesis than by two opposed principles ” (p. 90). Dualism is a “denied dependency on a subordinated other” (p. 41), says Val Plumwood (2003) in her book, Feminism

Though the earth is considered as the mother, the advent of culture and civilization changed humans’ attitude towards earth. Humans started to consider themselves superior to nature due to the development of science and technology, which results in their overexploitation of nature to fulfil their needs. Carolyn Merchant (1983) in her The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution says, “Whereas the nurturing image can be viewed as a cultural constraint restricting the types of socially and morally sanctioned human actions allowable with respect to the earth, the new images of mastery and domination functioned as cultural sanctions for the denudation of nature” (p. 2). The culture made humans, especially men, superior to nature and other humans as well. The supremacy of masculinity is authorized through the dualistic hierarchy that prevails in society. One such dualism exists between culture and nature, in which the former is considered to be superior and the latter to be inferior in the patriarchal society. While attempting to explain this, Ecofeminists argue that humans, in the name of culture, distance themselves from nature. Nature and culture are treated and considered as different entities. The dualistic hierarchy of culture and nature associates men with culture and women with nature. The film Pocahontas begins with a group of invaders voyaging towards a new land in search of gold, which they believed would

The invaders cut the trees, dig the land to find gold and even destroy the land by bombing. They also built a fort to protect themselves from the natives. Governor Ratcliffe, on their arrival at the natives’ land, jubilantly says, “A land I can tame” (Pentecost, 1995). The thought of exploiting the earth and its resources for the purpose of men is stressed when the governor discloses his idea of taming the land. The patriarchal attitude of exploiting nature merely as a resource for men is revealed. The invaders voyage a long way to obtain gold, which can make them rich. As soon as they reach the natives land, they disturb the land and its people. Similarly, in Moana, the environment is affected because of Maui, who steals the heart of Te Fiti. Though everybody knows about the part Te Fiti’s heart has in making the place fertile, it is the culture dominant minds of humans that make them think to steal the heart to possess the power of creation. This clearly shows how humans ‘consider themselves as controllers of nature. But this attempt to be superior to nature results in self-destruction. The films present many instances to show how patriarchy, on account of dualism, devalues female and tries to manage and control nature. In Pocahontas, when the ship of the Englanders gets struck in a storm, Governor Ratcliffe says, “and nothing, not wind nor rain, nor a thousand bloodthirsty savages shall