Feminism and Climate Change

I hadn'tt heard of the Red Tent Movement, and when I searched for articles I could read quickly, I found e.g. this
www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/why-women-are-gathering-in-red-tents-across-the-uk/
which sounds as supportive as these MN forums. Do you have any reading material that shows the negative side? As I said, I'll watch the videos when time and data allowance allow.

One of the above videos in my earlier post is from the owner of a youtube channel called Our Red Tent and is titled "Who is the Sacred Whore? When was she in her Power?”

The video is promoting the concept of sacred prostitution as an ancient and elevated spiritual path that was obscured by the patriarchy and can be reclaimed by involvement with the Red Tent movement.

I do not like the promotion of prostitution as a sacred path. Whatever people’s beliefs about sex work I hope we can all be agreed that promoting prostitution as “awakening the goddess within” or some such similar bullshit should be called out.

also see a discussion voicing concerns about the Red Tent movement and the promotion of sex work here

www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=4598.0

There are also significant links between controversial tantric / kundalini yoga groups (often referred to as cults) with long histories of allegations of sexual and financial abuses and the Red Tent movement

For example, a tantric / kundalini yoga school often referred to as a cult is 3HO

allegations of sexual offences against female disciple by Yogi Bhajan (now deceased - founder and leader of 3HO) -

WARNING descriptions of sexual abuse

COUNT II: ASSAULT AND BATTERY

As a complete and independent cause of action the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth in paragraphs 1 through 63 above, are hereby incorporated into this Count by reference.
During the period between June, 1978 and February,1985, the plaintiff was repeatedly struck or touched in a manner which any person of ordinary sensibilities would find to be highly offensive, and which caused the plaintiff pain and physical harm, as well as fear, apprehension and resulting mental and emotional harm. These incidents include, but are not limited to, beatings; involuntary sexual intercourse, sodomy and other sexual attacks; administration of ostensibly medical treatments; administration of bizarre rites; urination upon the plaintiff; and other particulars.
At the time of the initial sexual attacks upon the plaintiff by Bhajan, the plaintiff was a virgin, had never had a sexual relationship of any kind with any man, and had intended to remain a virgin until married.
From approximately 1980 through at least August 1985, the plaintiff lived under the constant threat, fear and reasonable apprehension of physical injury or death if she left the 3H0 organization or failed or refused to obey the directives and commands of Bhajan, or maintained any outside relationships that were not specifically approved by Bhajan.
From December 1980 through May, 1985, the plaintiff also lived under the constant threat, fear and reasonable apprehension of physical injury or death if she resisted the sexual assaults of Bhajan.
From December 1980 through August, 1985, the plaintiff also lived under the constant fear and reasonable apprehension of physical injury or death if she revealed to any person her experiences while involved with the defendants cult or Bhajan.
In carrying out his sexual assaults, Bhajan was at times physically assisted by defendant Amrit Kaur and at times physically assisted by defendant Guru Ke, who would physically restrain the plaintiff.
None of the physical touching or other acts described in This Count were done with the voluntary, free or informed consent of the plaintiff, nor were any of the defendants privileged to carry out any of the acts described in This Count.
All of the acts of the defendants described in This Count were done willfully, wantonly and with conscious disregard for the rights of the plaintiff. The defendants conduct in This regard was outrageous, and shocking to the sensibilities of ordinary people.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable consequence of the defendants acts as set forth above, the plaintiff has suffered the physical, psychological and economic injury set forth above at paragraphs 62 and 63, above. In addition the plaintiff suffered severe infections of her bladder, kidneys and other internal organs; injury to her rectum and colon; loss of hair; bloody noses; split lips; bruising over her entire body; swollen tongue to the point where she could not take solid food for several days; soreness and misalignment of her jaw; contraction of herpes simplex and lesser venereal diseases; two abortions; permanent scarring of her internal sex organs and her back; and the tearing of a mole from her back.
As a result of the aforementioned emotional trauma and psychological injury, the plaintiff has required extensive psychological counseling and treatment, which psychological counseling and treatment is expected to continue on into the future.
As a result of the aforementioned physical injuries the plaintiff has required treatment from a variety of medical doctors and specialists, which treatment is continuing to date and is expected to continue on into the future.
As a result of the aforementioned physical and psychological injuries, the plaintiff has been limited in the kind of employment she can accept since she left Bhajan's cult, and will continue to be so limited on into the future. WHEREFORE, under This Count the plaintiff respectfully prays This honorable Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $2.5 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus costs of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Bhajan, any of the other individual defendants in this case, any officer of employee of any of the corporate defendants in This case, and any other person acting as the agent, employee or accomplice of any of the aforementioned people or entities, from having any contact or communication of any kind with the plaintiff, directly or indirectly, except through the plaintiffs undersigned counsel. C. Such other relief as the Court shall deem just and equitable after trial of This case.
COUNT III: FALSE ARREST AND FALSE IMPRISONMENT

As a complete and independent cause of action the plaintiff hereby asserts This Count against each of the defendants named in This Complaint.
The factual averments set forth in paragraphs 1 through 77 above, are hereby incorporated into This Count by reference.
From the fall of 1978, and continuing until March 4, 1985, the defendants held the plaintiff in a state of involuntary captivity through a combination of mental coercion, false promises, threats of damnation and unspeakable spiritual torment which defendants knew to be false, and threats of public humiliation, grievous physical injury or death to the plaintiff and her family if she attempted to leave the physical confines of the defendants various compounds where Bhajan directed she live. Any one of the foregoing threats was, by itself, sufficient to constrain the plaintiff.
From January, 1981, and continuing until approximately April, 1983, the plaintiff was watched constantly by members of the defendants cult who would ld report her every move to Bhajan, and telephoned and checked on nightly by Bhajan or another at the direction of Bhajan. This watch was to prevent her from leaving the ashram at Espanola, New Mexico without the permission of Bhajan, or to report her situation to anyone outside the cult.
From April, 1983, until the end of October, 1984, the plaintiff was at all times held under armed guard, and was in addition watched constantly by members of the cult, who would report her every move to Bhajan. This guard and close watch were to prevent the plaintiff from leaving the ashram at Espanola, New Mexico without the permission of Bhajan, or to report her situation to anyone outside the cult.
At the end of October 1984, and continuing until July 1984, the armed guard placed upon the plaintiff was relaxed somewhat. She was sometimes unaccompanied by armed guards during the day, but was still guarded at night, and still telephoned nightly by Bhajan or someone at the direction of Bhajan. Members of the cult, who would report her every move to Bhajan, also still watched the plaintiff constantly.
From July, 1984, until March 4, 1985, the armed guard on the plaintiff was relaxed still further. Armed guards did not accompany her during the day, and the guard on her at night consisted of the two guards stationed outside her home at the Espanola, New Mexico ashram. The plaintiff was still watched constantly by members of the cult, who would report her every; move to Bhajan, and was still called nightly by Bhajan or someone at the direction of Bhajan.
All of the aforesaid acts were carried out at the direction of Bhajan, using the resources of the defendant corporations and outside agencies controlled by Bhajan, by Amrit Kaur and others, for the purpose of restricting the personal liberty and freedom of locomotion of the plaintiff.
At no time did any of the defendants named in this Complaint have reasonable cause or justification to so restrain the plaintiff, nor did the plaintiff in any way or at any time give her voluntary, free or informed consent to such restraint.
On March 4, 1985, the plaintiff was able to evade the defendants guards stationed outside of her home at the Espanola, New Mexico ashram, and fled the cult to her parents home in the State of Montana, still fearful for her life and safety, and of spiritual damnation and torment.
The defendants actions as described in this Count were willful, wanton, outrageous, illegal and totally without justification or authority.
As a direct, proximate and foreseeable consequence of the defendants acts as set forth above, the plaintiff has suffered the physical, psychological and economic injury set forth above at paragraphs 62, 63 and 74, above. WHEREFORE, under This Count the plaintiff respectfully prays This honorable Court will grant the following relief: A. Entry of a judgment in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants, jointly and severally, in the amount of $2.5 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive or exemplary damages, plus interest and costs of suit. B. Entry of a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Bhajan, any of the other individual defendants in This case, any officer of employee of any of the corporate defendants in This case, and any other person acting as the agent, employee or accomplice of any of the aforementioned people or entities, from having any contact or communication of any kind with the plaintiff, directly or indirectly, except through the plaintiffs undersigned counsel. C. Such other relief as the Court shall deem just and equitable after trial of This case.
COUNT IV: FOR INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF SEVERE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS

As a complete and independent cause of action the plaintiff hereby asserts this Count against each of the defendants named in this Complaint.
The factual averments set forth in paragraphs 1 through 89 above, are hereby incorporated into this Count by reference.
During the period in which she was a member of the defendants cult, the plaintiff was systematically subjected to a variety of extreme, outrageous practices by the defendants, which were designed to cause her severe emotional distress. These practices included, but were not limited to: (a) Subjecting her to the rapes, beatings, involuntary sexual contact and humiliation described in Count II, above. (b) Subjecting her to the confinement and mental coercion described in Count III, above. (c) Forcing the plaintiff to adhere to a regimen of yoga exercises, prayer, meditation and long hours of work which left little time for sleep, and which, when coupled with an extremely poor diet and bizarre fasts, had a mentally debilitating effect upon the plaintiff, leaving her confused, demoralized and unable to clearly think or reason. (d) Harassing the plaintiff by telephoning her nightly and sending a guard to awaken her if she unplugged the telephone. (e) Causing the plaintiff to be the subject of scorn and ridicule within the group in order to upset her and cause her anguish and humiliation. (f) Repeatedly telling the plaintiff that she was now "useless" to men other than Bhajan, and that no other man would find her in any way attractive or desirable or wish to marry her. (g) Telling the plaintiff that Bhajan saw in her "aura" that it was her "destiny" to be sexually attacked and die in an auto accident if she left the "protection" of Bhajan, and that she would wind up as a prostitute, and ultimately an accident victim, if she left (all of which "predictions" Bhajan knew to be groundless when he made them). (h) Knowingly and intentionally subjecting the plaintiff to the aforementioned thought reform process which, by design, undermined and eventually completely destroyed the plaintiffs self-respect, self-esteem and that concept of self and self-worth known by mental health professionals as "ego”.

source:

culteducation.com/group/795-3ho/35-katherine-felt.html

New Zealand's dairy industry (where I've also lived and worked) is a good example: if the farmers had to pay some kind of subsidy or tax to make good the pollution of the lakes and waterways due to their excessive use of fertiliser (thus internalising the environmental cost to the producer), the price of milk would increase hugely - and they'd go out of business, especially if they were competing against countries which didn't require their farmers to do this.

Kiwi farmers daughter here. Well then that’s the true cost of the product and maybe it should go out of business! I don’t think NZ imports dairy from elsewhere does it? There are other options, especially for a small country, and government could invest in those other plant based options, or help farmers retrain in growing other crops- farmers are an amazing bunch and will farm what consumers want in the end. Dairy isn’t an essential industry, its not a requirement for human health so other options should of been researched years ago and invested in, and as individuals NZers should have asked themselves if they really wanted to buy products that caused so much destruction. I did, my farming family did too, only one of us continued to consume dairy.

Hoodathunkit Thanks for those suggestions; I don't have the bandwidth (literal or metaphoric) to watch videos right now, but will look at them later. I went back to the Wikipedia article on ecofeminism that I'd used as a starting point, and it lists several non-spiritual types of ecofeminism: in fact, I'd argue that most of the action groups are dirt-under-the-fingernails material. Indian women planting trees, Canadian/US Mohawk women tracking contaminants in their breast milk, community gardens in inner cities.

I hadn'tt heard of the Red Tent Movement, and when I searched for articles I could read quickly, I found e.g. this
www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/why-women-are-gathering-in-red-tents-across-the-uk/
which sounds as supportive as these MN forums. Do you have any reading material that shows the negative side? As I said, I'll watch the videos when time and data allowance allow.

We should also honour Wangari Maathai from Kenya

Nobel prize for African environmentalist
www.downtoearth.org.in/news/nobel-prize-for-african-environmentalist-12058
I look to women in Africa as an inspiration.

2rebecca thank you that confirms the suspicions I think lots of us had.

shudders

Ecofeminism has almost half a century of thinkers and writers and activists. See e.g.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecofeminism

I have not read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been covered

From your link

"Spiritual ecofeminism[edit]
Spiritual ecofeminism is another branch of ecofeminism, and is popular among ecofeminist authors such as Starhawk, Riane Eisler, Carol J. Adams, and more. Starhawk calls this an earth-based spirituality, which recognizes that the Earth is alive, that we are interconnected, as well as a community.[16] Spiritual ecofeminism is not linked to one specific religion, but is centered around values of caring, compassion, and non-violence.[17] Often, ecofeminists refer to more ancient traditions, such as the worship of Gaia, the Goddess of nature and spirituality (also known as Mother Earth).[17]"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecofeminism#Spiritual_ecofeminism

Unfortunately it is in this category where massive problems with abusive cults and the exploitation of the vulnerable has occurred and is still occurring.

See
Annie Sprinkle and her dangerous, predatory associates
Plastic shamans
Cultural appropriation and cultural genocide of indigenous peoples
Ecosexuality
The Red tent movement and its links to the promotion of sex work
sexual abuses linked to neo-tantra

some videos for your perusal

Re people living in the country, round here it's just a sign of conspicuous consumption/wealth. It's a way to have a freestanding house, to have MarieAntoinnette-type chicken-keeping hobbies, to be the one with exotic problems (the rich get to work late because it snowed on the hills; the poor get to work on time in the snow because they live in town).

No worse that wearing lots of bling but not valuable in itself.

Those who understand this stuff tell me what we want is population density - lots of people in well-designed apartments close to each other. Then forests around that.

"Thread wouldn't be complete without mentioning the inspirational, tenacious scientist, Rachel Carson, pioneer of the modern environmental movement with her 1962 book 'Silent Spring' about the damage done by indiscriminate use of pesticides."

that would be a great reading group type thing for this board if anyone is interested? She didn't make the shortlist for that recent BBC "greatest person of the 20th Century" but she should have.

Antibles: - "You are probably right though gentlemanlike that changing other nations might be impossible time-wise." I do think this - but I see the value in you pointing to alternatives and better models

Agree the Green Party and SGP have moved away from environmentalism. The social justice (incorporating TWAW) and no borders so everyone can live in their favourite country are now regarded as more sacred as policies than environmental stuff. Few motions at the AGM are about the environment. Trying to restrict population growth was out, support for alternative medicine and legalising cannabis was in.

Many villages have changed from local people who worked and socialised locally, to people who live there and commute out for work, school and leisure. It has had a very negative impact in many villages. Because people moving in often don't want real village life, but a facsimile disnified version of it.

This has been my experience. I grew up on a farm, in a farming community in Scotland. The local village school had 30-odd pupils, the majority from farming families or related jobs - mechanics, labourers, fencers etc. Fast forward to now... 4 pupils in the school. Virtually no farming families left. In most cases, the houses and outbuildings have been separated from the land. The buildings are sold to retired doctors / lawyers / accountants, often from the South of England or high-earning professionals (our nearest big town has a major teaching hospital and a big university), then they are extended and gentrified. The land is generally leased to an agribusiness, who swoop in a few times a year with gangs of immigrant workers in minibuses to plant, then later harvest whichever cash crop is profitable at that time. God knows where they live, in caravans somewhere a lot less picturesque I imagine. The children of the high-earners get driven to the local private school in town everyday. No shops left, no pubs, no youth club, no WRI, nothing - but that's okay because everyone has a big 4x4 to take them into Tescos. And yes - they complain about the few signs of actual agricultural activity like muddy road verges, tractor noise, smell from the dung spreader.

From my perspective though, it's no different to "sustainable" anything - once we start internalising the the true environmental costs of production, the price of food is going to skyrocket (unless it is subsidised in some way along the process). New Zealand's dairy industry (where I've also lived and worked) is a good example: if the farmers had to pay some kind of subsidy or tax to make good the pollution of the lakes and waterways due to their excessive use of fertiliser (thus internalising the environmental cost to the producer), the price of milk would increase hugely - and they'd go out of business, especially if they were competing against countries which didn't require their farmers to do this.

We've had a long long run of ignoring the environmental cost of our lifestyles. It's not going to be easy in a liberal democracy that depends on people making the right choices, to change this.

I never buy plastic toys for my kids

I do, but sell them on afterwards or give them to charity for others.

Faaaaaaaaantastic thread 😁

Now ten years old, the Age of Stupid is currently on iplayer. It's still an excellent watch and looks at lots of the issues discussed in this thread. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pft7f/storyville-the-age-of-stupid

Awesome director Franny Armstrong (who previously did 'McLibel', about the equally amazing Helen Steel taking on Macdonalds) can be found over on Twitter, producing short follow up films with those involved in the original film.

I always get something in my eye with the mountain guide and the disappearing glaciers, bless his heart. Pete Postlewaite is a damn legend (follow up film is with Pete's son). Can't wait to see how Layefe has got on with her dream of being a doctor. Do watch the original film if you haven't seen it already.

Regarding flights I think the frequent flyer levy would be a good idea although I think one tax free flight a year may be a little frequent! Maybe one free every two or five years, but that would be a right mare to keep track of. And what about private plane use...anyhow link to website that explained more about the idea.
afreeride.org

I prefer trains, just wish they were MUCH better invested in. They should be far more accessible for disabled and cyclists and the fare system is a bloody ripping-off bad joke. Bloody Beeching and his damn bloody line closures grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Would say rant over lol but... what about the Green Party undermining women's rights and their current response to major safeguarding concerns?

Surely we follow the science, (as we do with geosciences and climate change) to recognise that basic reproductive biology does not change, no matter what manner of feelings, clothing or cosmetic surgery may suggest. Sex-based rights exist for a reason and undermining women and girls rights in order to include men that 'feel like' women is piss poor reasoning. And against Equalities Act.

The lack of response to major safeguarding concerns has been tragic, although sadly not without precedent in the Green Party. There needs to be full and frank engagement with the issue before I'll ever vote for them again. If there's no integrity, there's no green politics. Come on Caroline, step up like you usually do. Suspensions for party members who ask questions about safeguarding? Ffs that is some sort of dangerous bullshit that makes me want to speed-up our planetary demise 😠

Oh sod them! Someone mentioned Polly Higgins, the 'Earth's lawyer' who fought hard for the crime of eco-cide to be recognised in law. Top woman.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/28/destruction-earth-crime-polly-higgins-ecocide-george-monbiot

Thread wouldn't be complete without mentioning the inspirational, tenacious scientist, Rachel Carson, pioneer of the modern environmental movement with her 1962 book 'Silent Spring' about the damage done by indiscriminate use of pesticides.

An insightful review of her life from Brainpickings here.
mailchi.mp/brainpickings/rachel-carson-commencement?e=d66279de5d

Finally big up all the eco-feminists fighting all around the globe, including Berta Caceres who was murdered for her environmental activism in Honduras. Taking on the corporations isn't easy but time and again it has to be done. Now more than ever.

www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/honduras-berta-caceres-murder-enivronment-activist-human-rights

Many villages have changed from local people who worked and socialised locally, to people who live there and commute out for work, school and leisure. It has had a very negative impact in many villages. Because people moving in often don't want real village life, but a facsimile disnified version of it.

"I wonder how reducing travel might affect women's paid work? It's fine to live near your work if you are only one person, but if you are in a couple it might be harder to find suitable jobs for two in the same location...so who will be the one to give up work, if travel costs make it uneconomic to travel to the job your not living near?"

I think this gets into rather esoteric questions like, where do jobs really come from? In the end though, don't couples and families often have to make these kinds of decisions about what makes sense for them all, with things like work, or school, or housing? People don't always end up in the work they choose either, and that seems ok to me.

"The people I’m thinking of aren’t interested in sustainable agriculture. They choose to live in the countryside for purely lifestyle reasons - thus making themselves entirely reliant on private car transport for everything - and think that keeping a few chickens and composting their veg makes them environmentally sound... "

Yeah, reliance on the car in rural communities is a problem. It used to be less of one, and I think that speaks to the directionality of it. When fewer people had cars and they were more expensive to run, communities tended to have more of their own events and resources. Fundamentally I think it's a good thing that people want to live in various kinds of communities - the problem is that we've not developed healthy communities where people can really live, they've been designed for the car, like suburbs, or hollowed out by the car like many rural areas. That has to happen for people to live anywhere sustainably.

I don't think there is any option so far as sustainable farming goes. It's an area where I don't think technology can really make the kinds of differences it tries to promise - in the end, our needs come from the Earth. That's true whether you grow meat in a lab or raise animals as part of a farm ecosystem. Tech solutions tend to be unstable as well, requiring significant infrastructure.

I wonder how reducing travel might affect women's paid work? It's fine to live near your work if you are only one person, but if you are in a couple it might be harder to find suitable jobs for two in the same location...so who will be the one to give up work, if travel costs make it uneconomic to travel to the job your not living near?

Really interesting Grab. I understand the Scandinavian countries to be specifically Sweden, Norway and Denmark and those are what I was referring to but I don't mean to split geographical hairs. I was just providing a counterpoint to that of dictatorships and the power to put green policies into place. Sweden I think has a very large percentage of power generated through renewable means, and nearly all of Norways electricity production comes from hydropower (sell a ton of oil though). You are probably right though gentlemanlike that changing other nations might be impossible time-wise.

Bog, I agree that feeding billions of mouths even at subsistence level is a massive issue, however clean our energy production.

I like to hope that technology might deliver but reckon it will only be adopted when our easy lives in rich countries come under direct, unpleasant threat and much damage has been done. I say this because Malthus never dreamed we could sustain the population we actually do so I am prepared to be proved wrong by technology - necessity being the mother of invention and all that - and because I possibly read too much science fiction

Thank you all for the discussion here - lots of food for thought. I found the pinned one (guest post about mums climate march) rather depressing.
I’ve seen this referenced but don’t know much about it ‘Project Drawdown’ with educating girls 6th on the list of solutions to climate change: www.drawdown.org/solutions