Woman and Nature

“Perhaps the most extraordinary nonfiction work to have emerged from the matrix of contemporary female consciousness—a fusion of patriarchal science, ecology, female history and feminism, written by a poet who has created a new form for her vision.” —Adrienne Rich “The prose is stunning: this is a book to be read aloud with friends.” —Carol P. Christ, author of Rebirth of the Goddess “Original, highly imaginative, very moving in its mysteries.” —Susan Brownmiller, author of Against Our Will A seminal work of the eco-feminist movement, connecting patriarchal society’s mistreatment of women with its disregard for the Earth’s ecological well-being Woman and Nature draws from a vast and enthralling array of literary, scientific, and philosophical texts in order to explore the relationship between the denigration of women and the disregard for the Earth. In this singular work of love, passion, rage, and beauty, Susan Griffin ingeniously blends history, feminist philosophy, and environmental concerns, employing her acclaimed poetic sensibilities to question the mores of Western society. Griffin touches upon subjects as diverse as witch hunts, strip mining, Freudian psychology, and the suppression of sexuality to decry a long-standing history of misogyny and environmental abuse. A sometimes aggravating, often inspiring, and always insightful literary collage, this remarkable volume offers sanity, poetry, intelligence, and illumination.