Presentation on Natures Representation as a Woman :: Nature Gender Sex Female

Outline Style Presentation Nature being represented as woman â€Å"Nature is like a woman who enjoys disguising herself, and whose different disguises, revealing now one part of her ad now another, permit those who study her and assiduously to hope that one day they may know the whole of her person† (Diderot) Why this is an interesting topic? Often saw references of nature with N and sounded like a proper name sometimes. The connections between nature and the female form. Connect the romantic period with the start of feminism and the new strategies and approaches theorists and philosophers and writers are taking now. 4 Possible Theories for connecting women with nature 1) Descending from precursory languages such as Anglo-Saxon (Old English), Italian, Spanish, Latin, Greek and French. 2) Based on the qualities generally associated with women and differences between gender roles 3) Connection between Woman and Nature and the life cycle 4) Biblical references 1) Languages with gendered nouns Old English: gecynd Latin: la natura Italian: la natura French: la nature Spanish: la naturaleza Greek: Æà ÃÆ' · All are gendered as female. Could be initial cause for why we tend to consider nature as female. 2) Gender Role of Woman - Nature is feminized because it is seen as possessing the same qualities as women at the time when most of the romantic writing was produced - Women were seen as being domestic, pious, moral, pure, gentle, kind, graceful, simple and beautiful; this was according to the nature of separate spheres: men and women were fundamentally different in terms of their characteristics as men were seen as hard-working, industrial, rational, assertive, independent and proud; none of which is easily connected with nature - Therefore nature was seen as the embodiment of all the characteristics that women possess and there are frequent references to this in literature, especially poetry eg. â€Å"Constant rotation of th’unwearied wheel That nature rides upon maintains her health, Her beauty, her fertility† (Cowper, The Task, Book 1: The Sofa, 359-61