Green Shades of Feminity: An Ecofeministic Study of Selected Poems of Sugathakumari and Kamala Das

The discourse on feminism and ecology is familiar in literary studies as well as in socio-cultural scenario. But it seldom merged with each other-it has probably only been five decades since Indian literature has started discussing Eco feminism. Eco feminism, in short, blends the theories of feminism and ecology. This research paper critically analyses poems of the prolific Indian writers Sugathakumari and Kamala Das who always fought for upholding the women’s issues and conserving the nature. The paper aims to study their writings through the lenses of Ecofeminism, to treat them as their unabashed political commentaries on women and nature.


Introduction
Ecofeminism is a philosophical and political movement which combines the ideals of feminism and ecology, interpreting both as a result of the patriarchal society. "Ecofeminism is a movement that sees a connection between the exploitation and degradation of the natural world and the subordination and oppression of women." (Mellor). Similarly man and culture are related through production of objects. The first Ecofeminist conference was held at The Meltdown at Three Miles island in the USA. Eco feminists laid an uninterrupted link between women and nature because like women nature too had an ancient history of a nourishing mother. Simon de Beauvoir was the first one to analyse the nature-women link in her book, The Second Sex (1949). She pointed out that culture is manmade and in such a society all non-man are designated as 'Other'. "Ecofeminism is multifaceted and multi-located, challenging structures rather than individuals.' (Oster).
Ecofeminism, as a complex web of diverse cultural structures, consist of different streams based on various aspects. Sugathakumari was a pensive poet who fought for nature and marginalised. Though the writers vary in their style and diction, images of women and nature are a leitmotif in the writings of both of them. Kamala Das has associated her emotions with nature whereas Sugathakumari has been an active part in the ecological struggles particularly The Silent Valley and Aranmula Protest and other agitations to bring the subalterns to the front line of the society."Both these writers seem to argue for a healthy co-existence of Man, Woman and The poem Oru Pattu Pinnneyum (A Song Again) is one of the most celebrated poems on environment. A bird with broken wings sings alone with pains in the remains of a tree.
The bird here stands as the symbol for women, who are oppressed by patriarchy. What the bird suffers after deforestation and other nature exploiting activities becomes the sufferings of women as the aftermath of masculine violence. She is the victim of patriarchal power. The bird says that she did not have any companionships other than rain, tree, river and darkness.
She forgets her pain when she sings the song. The broken wing signifies that she cannot fly anymore to touch the high sky, which reminds her of the limit up to which she can go for her dreams and passions. Although she embraces the sky with her melodious song with its one wing's rhythm. What links the bird and women is their inferior status or subjugation to man.
It becomes the key to get exploited. It is the capitalism exploit nature whereas patriarchy manipulates women.
In the poem Vidhi, Sugathakumari depicts a court scene where the earth is the petitioner, her son man is the offender, and the God is the Judge who is surrounded by deities.
The earth enters the court in vague and torn green outfit and intertwined dry hair. In the poem one of the deities describes her name as one who suffers everything. She complains against the son, in which it says that he was harmful to everyone else in the world. At the end of poem the poet becomes afraid of the verdict from the God and she goes for several fearful thoughts as punishments. The God finally gives the verdict that the upcoming generation would have to suffer the consequences of the actions of men. Eco-feminists compare the earth as a women, the mother, and here the poet portrays the earth as tortured mother. The 'French' as a language is a part of a culture created by the male dominant society.
Nature(forest)and herself are separated from this culture because both of them do not play a part in the construction of culture and thereby they find an interrelatedness between them.
She upholds that though there are cultural differences that exist in society, nature is always close to her. This is one of the key features of Eco Feminism where women are equated with nature. According to Sherry Ortner, "woman is being identified withor, if you will, seems to be a symbol of-something that every culture devalues, something that every culture defines as being of a lower order of existence than itself. Now it seems that there is only one thing that would fit that description, and that is "nature" in the most generalized sense." According to Ecofeminist theory the androcentric society establishes hierarchies and dualities. " Th(e) capitalist-patriarchal perspective interprets difference as hierarchical and uniformity as a prerequisite for equality. Our aim is to go beyond this narrow perspective and to express our diversity and, in different ways, address the inherent inequalities in world structures which permit the North to dominate the South, men to dominate women, and the frenetic plunder of ever more resources for ever more unequally distributed economic gain to dominate nature…" (Mies and Shiva) Anything non-male is considered as inferior and nonproductive. The Dualities include white/black, male/female, civilized/uncivilized, traditional/modern, culture/nature etc.. In these dualities, one is considered as superior and Getting a man to love you is easy Only be honest about your wants as Woman. Stand nude before the glass with him So that he sees himself the stronger one And believes it so, and you so much more Softer, younger, lovelier.
The patriarchal society always wants man to be stronger and superior than all other beings. When the woman stands in front of him, he always wants to feel stronger than the woman whereas the woman is tender and lovely. 'The Suicide' is another poem by Das where she draws a nature-woman relation. When she is so desperate she gets relief from nature. She is feeling bereft of her soul and body and sea (nature) acts as her mother and only solace. Eco feminists argued not particularly for women and nature but for the rights of people who were marginalized by the patriarchal society. It includes women, nature, the natives, the black coloured people, animals and all those who were pushed to the peripherals of the society due to their social and economical status. According to Greta Gaard, an Ecofeminist scholar , "ecofeminism is the understanding that women's liberation is entangled with the liberation of all racial, gendered, sexual and ecological 'others' because, in hetero-patriarchal cultures, the oppressed are feminizedwhich means being seen as less rational and less fully human."('What is Eco feminism'). Kamala Das in 'A Conversation' writes thus: "I write about the poor and disadvantaged. They are voiceless…little maid servants who are beaten up, little twelve-year-olds fetching pails of water, without even getting proper salaries…"(Closure73). The society has less concern for these people but they are the main

Conclusion
We are not meek and we are not weak. We are angry-On our own behalf, for our sisters and children who suffer, and for the entire planet-and we are determined to protect life on Earth ('Caroline Lucas').
Woman like Mother Earth, relished an esteemed status in various cultures. Feminist theories, from a very early stage itself, has done a revisionary rereading of this concept.
An eco-feminist literary discussion deliberates how a writer integrates the environment, gender conflicts, discrimination, and historical setting into a writing. A social-constructionist eco-feminist perspective argues that patriarchal society divides the human from nature, to rule over nature. It is observed "nothing links the human animal and nature so deeply as woman'