Benay Blend

I then suggest that science fiction is an ideal medium within which to analyze resistance to capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy, as a genre that has been, from its inception, intertwined with each, and with the exploitation of women and the environment.

Ecofeminist Maria Mies has argued convincingly that “progress” in both capitalist and colonial terms has been established through the gendered division of labor on a global scale. While men’s labor is linked to science, technology, and production, the “housewifization” of women’s productive labor renders them invisible as workers (Mies 1986, 97). In addition, feminized reproductive labor—such as cooking, cleaning, and childrearing—is not recognized as labor within a capitalist framework though, as Mies and others have noted, it makes men’s productive labor possible.

hus, ecofeminism finds itself necessarily opposed to capitalism and colonialism at a material and ideological level, and must align itself with discourses of post-colonialism and anti-capitalism to suggest alternatives and resistance to the hierarchies of conquering and domesticating. Though ecofeminism makes women central to its analysis in ways post-colonialism and anti-capitalism are not necessarily committed to, an allegiance between post-colonial, anti-capitalist, and ecofeminist discourses and politics yields useful strategies and possibilities.