Overview
This brief but ambitious book explores our relationship with nature
through the imagery we use when we talk about Mother Nature. Employing the critical
tools of religious studies, psychology, and gender studies, Catherine M. Roach
examines the various manifestations of nature as "mother" and what that
idea implies for the way we approach the natural world. Part One, "Nature as
Good Mother," discusses the notion that nature is, or is like, a beneficent and
nurturing mother who provides and maintains life. In studying the "green"
slogan "Love Your Mother," Roach questions the effects -- for women and
for the environment -- of imputing female gender to nature. She asks us to look at
the associations that "motherhood" and "mothering" carry within
a culture still shaped by patriarchy. She notes the danger of such an apparently
pro-environmental slogan if "mother" evokes the bountiful,
self-sacrificing provider who herself requires no care.
Part Two,
"Nature as Bad Mother," looks at the contrary notion of nature as a
violent, threatening, and wrathful mother. This image arises most often when humans
and technology are depicted as masters of unruly nature. Here Roach draws on
theological reflection to analyze this ambivalence toward nature manifested in a
fantasy that casts humans as gods. She explores the contributions of eco-theology
and eco-psychology to a "heart of darkness" perspective. Finally, Part
Three, "Nature as Hurt Mother," looks at possibilities and pitfalls of
environmental healing inherent in the image of nature as a mother we have wounded
and now seek to heal.