Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore

by Esther Vincent, Angelia Poon

Making Kin aspires to be ecofeminist in nature, in terms of acknowledging the intersectional mode of relations between gender and other socially constructed markers of identity like race, class, culture and nation, and how these intersect with pertinent environmental issues. With a focus on a politics of relations, Making Kin contemplates the Singapore woman writer’s place on earth from the perspective of the domestic and private to re-centre the woman in the discourse of politics, environment, ecology and nation.

It is our hope that with this anthology, women writers in Singapore may chart a new cartography on the map of Singapore’s literary scene, writing urgently about gender, place, nature, climate change and other critical environmental issues that they find themselves entangled in and empathetic towards.

Genres: Environment, Essays, Nonfiction, Feminism, Nature, Gender

269 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[isa lim · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf. i read the spell of the forest, loved it, but found the rest of the book boring. the widest possible definitions of "eco", "feminist" and "essay"

[Jolin (twentycharm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. Thank you again to Ethos Books for sending me this amazing collection of personal essays discussing ecofeminism, women's roles in society, self-discovery, and so much more. In the following paragraphs, I will be reviewing each essay individually to talk more about the parts I enjoyed and my takeaways from them. My overall review will be uploaded on my Instagram @twentycharm!

Introduction and Editor Notes
Really insightful as it explored the inspirations for making kin, explained the meaning of the term and what they hope to achieve, and gave a brief overview of the personal essays to come. Densely packed with information and a little hard to decipher at times, but very meaningful. 4/5

The Field by Esther Vincent
My first time reading a personal essay and I finally understand the magic of it, feeling so close to the author and really getting into her mind. Vincent's descriptions blew me away, and I love the setting she's created, and the mentions of her relationship with her mother. 5/5

The Spell of the Forest by Prasanthi Ram
As usual, I love mentions of mythology, so I really enjoyed learning about some Hindu culture as well as the obstacles Ram faced as the caregiver for her father. So different from the first story but equally comforting. 5/5

The Seven-Year Cycle by Arunditha
a little more abstract than the previous two, but I like the longer timeline of this story. Many quotable lines and an overall beautiful message of life and death. 4/5

There Will Be Salvation Yet by Tania De Rozario
Already loving the title btw. Damn this was heavy, but so so well structured. I loved the references to horror stories related to Rosario's own experiences, and thank her for sharing her story. The ending is spectacular. There will be salvation yet. (ofc loving the queer rep too yasss queen) 5/5

Coming Home: Healing from Intergenerational Trauma by Nurul Fadiah Johari
Extremely insightful sharing on a different approach to mental health that I greatly appreciate. It's made me rethink my family relationships and see things in a new light. Society as a whole definitely needs to shift towards a collective mindset on healing and care. 5/5

Grappling by Andrea Yew
I really loved and strongly resonated with Yew's commentary on women's roles in society, and her explanations grounded by analogies to her hobby of martial arts were spectacularly written. Took down so many quotes from this one. 5/5

Scheherazade's Sea: Five Women and One by Dawn-joy Leong
I loved Leong's willingness to share her stories with others and allow readers to "make it their own". I am also thankful that, through this essay, I have a better understanding of autistic people and their view of the world through interconnectedness, which I believe is one neurotypical people should adopt as well. Also her drawings are so lovely! 4/5

The Sirenia Has Found Her Home by Serina Rahman
The play on words in the title is literal *chefs kiss*. Despite all the challenges she's faced as a woman working in STEM, Rahman continued to care for her small coastal community as best as she could, and that is inspiring enough. I wish her all the best in the future and thank her for the change she's encouraged. 5/5

As Big as a House by Matilda Gabrielpillai
it was so insightful to read Gabrielpillai's stories of the various houses and homes she's lived in thus far, as well as her cultural experiences in each one. Even as a young adult, I already consider the monetary significance of housing more than the emotional or cultural impact, so I'm really glad this essay was able to explain it to me. 5/5

Travelling in Place by Angelia Poon
Poon's exploration of "travelling in place" without actually moving about is ever relevant in the current pandemic, and I enjoyed going back to the past through her memories. I also took a liking to the literary examples she brought up to illustrate the treatment of women. 4.5/5

Marvels of Nature Just Outside My Window by Constance Singam
Absolutely loved Singam's cheerful and at times humorous voice in her anecdotes about animals, as well as the importance of green spaces to connect people. I especially appreciated the story of the strange dog, thank you for sharing! 5/5

The Bird Without a Name by Ann Ang
The story behind this essay's title is brilliant, and I'm glad to have found out more about birdwatching, as well as the flora and fauna in sunny little Singapore. Nature is truly there and ready to give, so long as we are willing to look for it. 4.5/5

The Power of Small Actions by Kanwaljit Soin
Though I appreciate her pacifist notions, I feel that Soin could have further explored the points she mentioned to better persuade readers to take her stand. Nonetheless, she brings a positive message and I am happy to know there are people who wish to see such change in our society. 3.5/5

Care is Revolutionary by Tim Min Jie
Though this was touched on in previous essays, I liked how Tim explored the importance of community and working together in hers. It has truly changed my mind on how I view success, especially women's success, which has been somehow distorted such that we must become "competitive and individualistic" to succeed in the patriarchal world. 5/5

Conquering Yeast by Grace Chia
This story shows how "domestic" mothers are empowered by providing and caring for their loved ones, showing love through food. It counters the common misconception that this notion isn't feminist as it "imposes a role onto women." 4.5/5

Finding a Home for Sebastien, My Autistic Son: from Peucang Island to Bali by Choo Kah Ying
It was interesting to hear about Choo's experience raising an autistic child and while I was originally appalled by her decision to have her son taken care of by someone else, I came to understand that it was with his best interests in mind. I'm glad it worked out for them, and hope they continue to thrive. 4.5/5

Semangat in Practice by nor
I really loved nor's exploration of the self, the land, and our history. It triggered me to think of the past differently from what we've been told, during precolonial times. a deeply meaningful essay that made me feel happy. 5/5

Liquid Emerald by Diana Rahim
I love the way fondness with which Rahim described her matrilineal heirloom, and appreciate her effort in explaining the importance of traditional medicine in terms of solace. 5/5

[Wen-yi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved this. A new favourite. Reading this was like a meditative exercise in regrounding in body, self, and the earth. With threads exploring decolonial sentiments, land reclamation, and cis/het/patriarchal norms, this is a book that insists on kindness and empathy--as Tim Min Jie puts it, "Centering joy and care... is a revolutionary act."

Standouts for me included:
- Tania de Rozario's "There Will Be Salvation Yet", which, throught the lens of horror movies, distills the exact intersectional discourses of madness, femininity, and queerness (with a good splash of religious trauma) that has lived in my brain rent free for years.

"Between broken belongings and a broken heart, you learn quickly: when they say something inside you needs casting out, it is you they are referring to.
And that is fine. Because you will cast yourself from this place. You will conquer the wilderness and become it. You will revel in your rage, be consumed by the jaws of your own wild hunger. And it will be delicious. And there will be salvation yet."

- Andrea Yew's "Grappling", about grounding the self through understanding the body, knowing limits and embracing strength, particularly those at odds with patriarchal constructs

"But are women really empowered or have we just raised the bar of what it means to be a successful woman without taking anything off her plate? (...) When there is no one explicitly pinning you down, how do you know when to tap out?"

- Ann Ang's "The Bird Without a Name", about birdwatching, reframing the way we/Singaporeans see nature as appendage to urbanity, and taking the time to know the names of the things in the ecosystem around us

"Perhaps the name of a bird attains its full, winged life only in the presence of the bird itself, and in the secret, ineffable rush of wonder that belongs to no one else but those who set eyes upon it. And so, a bird takes you out of yourself, only to return you to an enlarged perspective of where you sit in the wider ecology of our green earth."

- Tim Min Jie's "Care is Revolutionary", about centering care in activist work and its necessity for the sustainability of movements, as well as disability access

"We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors before us and so will future generations on us. We are not the start or end point. (...) Centring joy and care in our movements is a revolutionary act."

- nor's "Semangat in Practice", queering and exploring Nusantara and innate femininity from a trans perspective, and challenging the borders of nation-states in an interconnected archipelago

"Are the fishermen not our people too? Oftentimes, I wonder how differently Singapore and our neighbouring nations would be if we moved beyond the interests of our self-imposed borders. What if we looked at the sea as a connector and a living continuous flow of energy and resource instead of seeing ourselves as isolated islands? (...) To know one's self is to know one's history. To know one's history is to know one's land. To know one's land is also to know one's sea."

- Diana Rahim's "Liquid Emerald", which touches on traditional medicine and indigenous knowledge

"I understand that paracetamol works, that Xanax works, that Benazepril works, but I am not connected to these pharmaceutical drugs. They were not made with plants native to the land I come from. They are manufactured by experts in drug companies, not with the loving hands of women through generations, passed from one elder to the next."

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first encounters with academic Western eco feminism were way back in the early 2000s, so it was rather special to pick up this book, utterly grounded in Singapore, and to connect with the familiar and unfamiliar in these pages. The essays were full of resonance and challenge, they were personal, human and real, the perspectives were lived and alive with feeling. It was helpful to listen to voices reflecting in the midst of the recent/current pandemic, and comforting amid my current political despair to be reminded that there are so many sound, thoughtful souls out there who really care about the future of this planet and are playing their part in creating something more hopeful.

[Hyeyeongie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really put me in daze. I couldn’t write a review as eloquent as the essays, they’re all masterpieces!

Ecofeminism is an entirely new word for me so my first thought on this book would be collections of academic writings on feminism x ecology. But I was wrong from the start!

In fact it’s a collection of beautifully written life experiences. Everything is personal touch and I love how poignant these stories are covering various topics from adulthood, motherhood, home, traumas, mental illness, disability, martial arts, to name a few. Also subtly touching issues on environment and social patriarchy.

I was immediately drawn into reading by the brilliant use of symbolism & metaphor. Esther Vincent symbolises her growing up phases as fields, that kept changing mentally & physically by anthropocentric activities. Grace Chia conquered yeast-making in a way of showing that women have been the power of domestic breadwinning over centuries. Basically, everything is poetic!

And seeing that most authors are academicians &/ scholars, it is no wonder that such articulate essays are written. Myths aren’t simply ignored but scientifically inculcated in the writings too.

Reading this in perspective of a Malaysian, I did not feel disconnected at all. Malaysia and Singapore both have socioeconomic & geographical similarities. Like Kanwaljit Soin, I also wish my country to be more inclusive, equal, humane but less materialistic and dogmatic. Despite the turbulence we are currently facing, we couldn’t deny that ‘hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri, lebih baik di negeri sendiri’.

Anyway, I highly recommend everyone to pick this is up. As this is a book I will save for future generations to read & take heed. I hope by that time, social injustice & ecological disasters are no longer a concern to my grandchildren. Like how A. Samad Said felt in The Dead Crow.

I suggest you to devour the essays slowly. Taking your time to explore. As it speaks to you like a mother to her daughter. It can be soft & harsh sometimes but she meant nothing but good. Quoting nor, “ecofeminism asks us to think of our relations to the Earth and the environment in all aspects of our life…”

Thank you EthosBooks for sending me this review copy. Such an eye-opener, “looking at birds takes you out of yourself into the real world”

P/s: I am today’s years old when I realised Indonesian National Anthem shares similar verses to Sarawak State Anthem 😳

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays responding to the theme, ecofeminism. The subjects are very wide-ranging, from topics like disability justice, kinship with non-human living beings, connection to places, to the mundane, like bread making. The essays were all very interesting, and some were particularly thoughtful and thought-provoking.

[Karolina Góras]

DNF przerosła i znudziła mnie ta książka - nie twierdzę, że dla kogoś mogła/może być spoko. Ja pasuję

[Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We are told a story of scarcity and economy, one where our government’s land use policy is predicated upon the need to “optimise limited land” to meet the demands of the people... Redevelopment, the word is sandy in my mouth, and so I gather it into a ball and spit each grain out.”
▪︎
“Singapore prides itself on the fact that it has educated, and hence empowered women. But are women really empowered or have we just raised the bar of what it means to be a successful woman without taking anything off her plate? When success is a moving goalpost, are our outstretched necks craned towards the horizon of ambition or are we just trying to stay afloat?”
▪︎
“Trees get cut down, forests cleared relentlessly to make way for Singapore’s redevelopment programmes, feeding its drive to be bigger, better, and richer. Eventually we will pay a price. So will our sense of humanity.”
▪︎
“It was a year of too much—and also, too little. Spirits withered. Souls misaligned. A global pandemic trapped everyone into smaller and smaller spaces while the Internet exploded with noise and infected many of us with acute anxieties.”
▪︎
‘Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore’ edited by Esther Vincent and Angelia Poon is an eye-opening and mind-expanding read, offering ecofeminine perspectives that are unique, yet relatable. While not every single essay resonated with me, the ones that did left a deep impression and demanded further thought and reflection. I particularly enjoyed ‘Grappling’ by Andrea Yew and ‘Marvels of Nature Just Outside My Window’ by Constance Singam. 4.2 stars.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books holds so many of my own thoughts about home, and these essays will stay with me for a long time.

[George Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the long overdue attention now being paid to human mismanagement of the Earth’s ecosystems, eco is a popular prefix these days, with words such as ecopsychology, ecotourism, ecosophy, ecocide, ecocatastrophe, ecophysics, econeurology, ecojustice and of particular interest here, ecolinguistics, ecopoetry and ecofeminism.

I have done a little work in ecolinguistics, which can be defined as investigating how language and society interact to impact the environment. Ecolinguistics looks for positive and negative examples of how language promotes eco-friendly (another eco word) human behaviors. For instance, some poems have been praised as showing an ecocentric view (a view that prioritizes ecosystems over human greed) rather than an anthropocentric view (a view that prioritizes human wants).

Here is an example of ecopoetry, a student’s haiku poem intended to inspire more ecocentric actions (‘Your haiku to the environment’, n.d., https://climate.miami.edu/your-haiku-...)

Sun Power
Photosynthesis
Costs nothing, clothes and feeds us
What are we missing?
— J.H.

Finally, we get to the eco word that serves as the unifying theme of the book being suggested here: ecofeminism. The title ‘Making Kin’ of the collection of essays being discussed here comes from a 2015 commentary by Donna Haraway in the journal Environmental Humanities, volume 6, issue 1. Haraway’s article was titled “Anthropocene, capitalocene, plantationocene, chthulucene: Making kin.” To explain “making kin,” Haraway starts with Shakespeare’s considering whether people only show kindness mainly or necessarily to those to whom they are connected by blood (kin in the regular meaning of the word).

Haraway proposes a much broader definition of kin and an extension of kindness to all our kin. “I think that the stretch and recomposition of kin are allowed by the fact that all earthlings are kin in the deepest sense, and it is past time to practice better care of kinds-as-assemblages (not species one at a time). All critters share a common ‘flesh,’ laterally, semiotically, and genealogically.”

The book’s editors, Esther Vincent and Angelia Poon, continue Haraway’s use of kin as a gathering word, “kin-making reconnects us with the other person-beings that share our planetary space as home, forcing us to rethink our place on earth along reciprocal, ecocentric (italics added) rather than anthropocentric lines. Making Kin (the book’s title) is our attempt at assembling kin and kind, at stretching the imagination and changing the story, from within the privacy of the home into pertinent, global conversations.”

I borrowed this book from the library because I’m planning of attending a workshop on ecopoetry by one of the editors, Esther Vincent: https://www.bookcouncil.sg/academy-de.... In her chapter in the book, Esther talks about the meaning of eco which comes from the Greek word oikos meaning “house or home.”

The chapter, titled “The Field,” focuses on the role of nature in her conception of home going back to when she was in primary school playing alone in a field next to her public housing home. Nature has continued to play a powerful role in Esther’s thinking, even though the field of her childhood imagination has been buried beneath. It’s thought-provoking to read her reflections on what home means and the place of nature therein. You can read her chapter in the book or here: https://sinkingcity.as.miami.edu/esth...

The chapter in Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore that really grabbed my attention was “The Power of Small Actions” by Kanwaljit Soin, MD, a former nominated member of Singapore’s parliament (NMP) and a co-founder of important Singapore organizations, including Association of Women for Action and Research and Women’s Initiative for Aging Successfully.

Kani starts her chapter by telling about a trip to Anarctica with two of her sons. There, she observed the equal sharing of childcare among penguin couples who mate for life. This reinforced her determination to champion women’s rights in Singapore.

On the same trip to Antarctica, Kani was enveloped in a feeling of awe:

"The sea, the sky, the ice, the icebergs and the millions of creatures in the sea and land—all living, thriving and evolving without the heavy hand of humankind—made my agnostic being drift towards spirituality and I realized the awe-inspiring power of life on planet earth and its place in the universe. Finally, it dawned on me where I fit into this grand scheme of things—I was a very small part of the cosmos and yet I had the power to make positive change through my voice and actions."

After the Antarctica trip, Dr Soin became a vegetarian.

"One reason that vegetarianism appeals to me is because I feel the connection to animals that move, breathe and possibly feel like we do. They are kindred spirits and the cruelty we inflect on them before we kill and cook them makes no sense to me. … Many of us talk and worry about climate change and the far-reaching environmental effects of increasing greenhouse gases but often we feel helpless in the face of hypercapitalism and its rampant greed that fuel the climate problem. However, there is something we can all do to ameliorate the situation. We can become vegetarians. This course of action is simple and straightforward. We can do it without any fuss and empower ourselves to be agents of change in curing the global temperature rise that is one of hallmarks of the climate crisis."

Another connection between Dr Soin and nature comes through trees:

"I love trees because they are to me the quintessential benefactors of human beings—they endow us with beauty, with shade, with resources and with oxygen while taking in the carbon dioxide created by thoughtless human activity in this geological epoch."

On the cusp of her 80th year, Kani concludes her contribution to this book of ecofeminist essays from Singapore with these words:

"I love my country with all its quirks and idiosyncrasies but my wish for the future is that Singapore becomes more inclusive, more equal, more humane, less materialistic and less dogmatic. I am hoping that both my country and I will mature with age and wisdom, and uphold truth, humanity and knowledge."

[Apollos Michio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Making Kin is an insightful and varied collection of essays that, like its cover, showcase the complex entanglements of feminism and ecology (hence ecofeminist). Gender and identity cannot be viewed in isolation from a person’s environment, and these essays patently show us why: there are masculine aspects in societal capitalism, and feminist aspects in care for others.

I like how these essays stem from the personal perspectives of their writers, conferring them an agency and urgency that easily brands the book as a necessary piece of literature, especially in Singapore, where there are close to no books that participate in the discourse vis-à-vis the intersection of feminism and ecology.

Although I would have liked the book to be slightly less academic, more accessible and with a tighter thematic relevance, I cannot deny its effort in pushing for change and sparking further conversations. Read it, and discuss it!

Preorders are open until 5 Nov at bitly/makingkin! 😍

4.5/5

P.S. Thank you @ethosbooks for the review copy!

[chloe prasetya · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a special read; these writers' phrasings are as lush as the nature they speak of.

"the personal essay foregrounds the personal voice while allowing space for wandering. it is expansive in its ability to hold my longings and travels across temporalities and in space. the journey and its meanderings, its descents and ascents, its unpredictabilities, surprises and series of departures and returnings are what i love about her."

"...unlearn dominant and often violent ways of relating to self and others... to navigate the world is to engage in a constant dialectic between [the two]."

"are women really empowered or have we just raised the bar of what it means to be a successful woman without taking anything off her plate? when success is a moving goalpost, are our necks craned towards the horizon of ambition or are we just trying to stay afloat?"

"[on the journey towards selfhood], parallel and intertwined embodiments gyrate, jostle and cohabit in harmonic and dissonant elemental empathic resonance."

"there is a certain conceptual violence attached to viewing houses only as profit-making assets."

"our nation is forever moving, over and over again dislocated during its history. we haven't seen the end of this dislocation yet. what can we hold on to for some sense of stability and identity?"

"as a writer, i commune with words. the inanimate becomes animated, generating a kind of life."

"to know oneself is to know one's history. to know one's history is to know one's land. to know one's land is to know one's sea. to think of the sea is to think beyond the violently created borders of states."

fav essays:
- the seven-year cycle
- there will be salvation yet
- grappling
- travelling in place
- the bird without a name
- care is revolutionary

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

with much laborious reading and contemplation i’ve finished the collection of personal essays that is titled Making Kin. Nature is not a subject that i frequently read or write about, eco-feminism much lesser still. But the personal stories + commentary on the wider social fabric were relatable, vulnerable and eye opening. It simply gave a name to Singaporean women probably have experienced already — our relationship with the land, nature; and how this affects our individual and collective identities.

my favourite essays has to be coming home: healing from intergenerational trauma by Nurul Johari and Care is Revolutionary by Tim Min Jie. Both essays really spoke to me deeply and gave me practical tips that I could adopt to ensure the collecting healing of my family (which i’m sure every family needs to some extent) and the ethics of care I could adopt in workplaces / home / church. As Min Jie was describing the burnout happening within climate movements, I saw many parallels in my church community.

Though, some essays made me feel uncomfortable, such as The spell of the forest and There will be salvation yet. But it is definitely not because of the author’s voice or story, but rather because certain topics brought up in the essays were triggering for me.

Overall, I find this book very enlightening, it brings so much depth to the social fabric of Singapore in the context of ecofeminism. What a gem.

[Yong Feng · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title "Making Kin" is drawn from an essay by Donna Haraway where she calls for us to expand our notion of kin beyond birth families or even humans. Many of the essays in this collection echo this, showing how environmental and feminist ideas intersect in many ways while bringing in queer, indigenous, neurodivergent and other perspectives. One essay that stood out for me was Tim Min Jie's "Care is Revolutionary", where she argues that slowing down and finding joy and care is deeply necessary, and even essential to the environmental activism she does. These personal essays might not all fall under the conventional definition of "environmental" at first glance, but they do demonstrate the "thinking-with" that is necessary to overcome the separation between the self and other, to know one's connection to their history, land and sea as nor says while talking about their family spread across the region — leading to a more expansive way of seeing the world.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting collection of essays in the sense that it covered a wide range of experiences, rather than purely academic voices alone. However, I felt that it had too broad a definition of ecofeminism - it seemed to throw around that term a lot and suggest it meant the female experience, nurturing human-nature relationships, and an ethics grounded in care without really analysing what that looks like specifically in Singapore, or acknowledging the contradictions and trade-offs unique to the context of Singapore. Enjoyable as light reading though - I felt like I was reading very thoughtful personal anecdotes!

[Yoke Mun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making Kin was so so lovely, it made me rethink how we connect to each other and to non-humans and the larger environment. Reading each essay made me pause and gave me a glimpse of what’s possible if we all acted from a place of care and empathy, and broadened our ideas of community. Every entry was refreshing and at the same time comforting, but I especially enjoyed Care is Revolutionary, Finding a Home for Sebastien, My Autistic Son: From Peucang Island to Bali and The Bird Without a Name.

[B.]

The editors are obsessed with their own intelligence and their own voices and that really set the tone for this essay collection.

Having attempted to read a few of the essays I realised that their waxing lyrical over the personal essay in the introduction was necessary to trick you into thinking you were about to read some well-written and profound essays and to look at the actual text with rosecoloured glasses.

Maybe the later essays are better but I didn't stick around to find out because the first few were awful. Dnf.

[Sophie V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this around the same time that I started hiking and running around the island for the first time. I was experiencing nature in a new way for the first time AND reading an amazing book talking about the same things I've been thinking about! Each author also brought in so many interesting ideas and thoughts

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of personal essays felt like a breath of fresh air. Some pieces were delightful, others less so, but still a case of “the whole is greater than the sum of parts”. It is feminist in its very core: a non-authoritative, all-encompassing and fluid interpretation of ‘eco-feminism’ by an all-female cast. From making the case for care work, to bread-making during CB, it broadens the definition of eco-feminism, which is kinda counterintuitive. You read a book about crypto to utd what the hype is about, but this book will show you the 10 ways to rethink alternatives to fiat currency. LOL does this metaphor make sense

[Deanna Nabilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if some of these essays can necessarily be labelled “eco feminist”. My favourite standout essay was "Coming Home: Healing from Intergenerational Trauma" by Nurul Fadiah Johari, but in general, some of the other essays felt particularly pretentious.

[Ryan Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were pretty wack while some were good

[Judea · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmmm this was not rly for me

[Stéphanie Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

so much better than i expected!!!! singapore strikes yet again

[Xiaoyun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before the book, I found the concept of 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 niche/foreign, so thought it'd be good to explore how the authors find ecofeminism relevant & empowering for their climate work in Singapore. In a place where we are constantly striving to ~ Improve x Achieve x MOVE ~, I wonder how they carved space to advocate/act for care & maintenance.

🌺 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘯 is sprawling & diverse. I suppose it really shows that there are multiple ways to be a feminist, many routes to environmentalism, and thus combined, there are indeed multiple identities/actions to take/ways to be an eco-feminist! Not everything in the book resonated with me*, but I guess that’s what intersectionality of and diversity in identities creates. 4🌟/5!

🌺 Who should read 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘪𝘯? I read this collection rather leisurely, to match the exploratory, winding quality of the personal essays. I think you'll also like it if you're keen to:
- Foster a relationship with nature
- Learn about intersectionality in Singapore
- Explore how "the personal is political"
- Read autobiography/ columns/personal opinion pieces/ memoirs

🌸 #makingkin #ethosbooks #ecofeminism #singlit

---

🤧 *My main gripe is that I found the celebration of women/femininity on the assumption that her personal life is ~naturally~ more environmental a little too idealistic. Because there are currently many women who have succeeded by patriarchal/capitalist terms i.e. by the system, and who are thus not necessarily helping to pave the way to a more ecological future. Characterising female = ecological feels insufficient and cuts the potential of the ecofeminist label short if it trails off at that, and does not seek to usher deeper discussions or seismic shifts in the way we do things.

[Cherie Heng · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a healing book, I didn't know I needed it - but it was so holistically representing women in all walks of life - disability, minority, raising up an autistic child, taking care of parents. I related so much to it, and felt the essays very thoughtfully pondering about how our environment shape us, and how we grow through it. Intersectionality was very well explored.