Eco-Grief and Ecofeminism | Heidi Hutner | TEDxSBU

Summary

The speaker shares a deeply personal journey after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at 35, amidst a family history of cancer. She explores the environmental links to cancer, including the impact of chemicals and radiation, and her own struggle with chemotherapy. Despite the odds, she becomes a mother and later discovers her mother's involvement in the Women's Strike for Peace, which led to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This revelation inspires her to embrace ecofeminism, highlighting the power of collective action in addressing environmental and health crises.

Takeaways

• 😷 The speaker was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at 35, following her parents' deaths from different types of cancer.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 A family history of cancer sparked a deep personal connection and concern for environmental factors contributing to the disease.
• 🌱 The speaker's chemotherapy reduced her chances of having children by 50%, highlighting the harsh realities of cancer treatment.
• 📚 She researched environmental links to cancer, discovering works by Rachel Carson, Theo Colburn, and Alice Stewart, which emphasize the impact of synthetic chemicals and radiation.
• 📈 Shocking statistics: one in four men and one in five women will develop cancer in their lifetimes, with childhood cancers increasing since the 1950s.
• 🤰 Despite a careful and organic lifestyle, the speaker realized the impossibility of shielding her unborn child from environmental toxins.
• 🌎 The concept of 'eco grief' is introduced, reflecting the emotional toll of environmental degradation and its effects on mental health.
• 💪 Historical examples of women leading environmental movements, such as Rachel Carson and Lois Gibbs, inspire the speaker to action.
• 📚 The speaker teaches 'eco feminism', integrating stories of environmental activists to empower and educate.
• 👵 A personal revelation about the speaker's mother's involvement in the Women's Strike for Peace movement leads to a profound sense of connection and empowerment.
• 🌏 The Fukushima nuclear disaster and its personal impacts on families further emphasize the global reach and importance of environmental activism.

Q & A

At what age was the speaker diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease?

The speaker was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at the age of 35.

What types of cancer affected the speaker's family members?

The speaker's mother died from lymphoma, her father from a brain cancer which was a metastasis from melanoma.

How did the speaker's chemotherapy treatments impact her chances of having children?

The chemotherapy treatments reduced the speaker's chances of having children by 50%.

What environmental factors did the speaker research in relation to cancer?

The speaker researched the connections between synthetic chemicals, radiation, and cancer.

Which historical study did the speaker reference regarding the impact of X-rays on unborn children?

The speaker referenced a study by Alice Stewart from the 1950s, which found that one single X-ray to the womb doubled the child's chances of developing cancer.

What was the speaker's reaction upon learning about the prevalence of childhood cancers post-1950s?

The speaker was shocked to learn that childhood cancers spiked after the 1950s when synthetic chemicals, radiation, and environmental pollution became more prevalent.

What personal achievement did the speaker celebrate after her chemotherapy treatments?

The speaker celebrated getting pregnant and becoming a mother after her chemotherapy treatments.

What book did the speaker read while pregnant that deeply affected her?

The speaker read 'A Civil Action' by Jonathan Harr while pregnant, which is a story about a childhood leukemia cluster in Woburn, Massachusetts.

What is 'Eco grief' as mentioned in the script?

'Eco grief' refers to the profound sadness and grief people feel in response to environmental loss and the impact on all living beings.

What historical event did the speaker's mother participate in that the speaker was previously unaware of?

The speaker's mother participated in the 'Women's Strike for Peace', a movement that led to the partial nuclear test ban treaty in 1963.

What was the speaker's call to action at the end of the script?

The speaker encouraged the audience to feel the eco grief, to be called to action, and to join the efforts to fix environmental issues.

Outlines

00:00

😷 Personal Struggle with Cancer and Environmental Concerns

The speaker shares her personal journey of being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at 35, following her parents' deaths from different types of cancer. She expresses her fears about undergoing chemotherapy and the impact it would have on her chances of having children. As a researcher, she delves into the potential environmental causes of cancer, citing works by Rachel Carson, Theo Colburn, and Alice Stewart. She also presents startling statistics about cancer rates and the increase in childhood cancers post-1950s, suggesting a link to environmental pollution. The narrative ends with her successful battle against cancer and the joy of becoming a mother despite the odds.

05:00

🌿 Eco-Feminism and the Power of Activist Women

The speaker discusses her feelings of eco grief and how she channeled them into action by studying women environmental activists like Rachel Carson, Lois Gibbs, and others. She teaches a class on eco-feminism and is inspired by the stories of these women. During a family gathering, she learns about her mother's involvement in the Women's Strike for Peace, a movement that led to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. This revelation motivates her to include nuclear history in her work on eco-feminism, highlighting the power of collective action.

10:01

🌐 From Personal Healing to Global Activism

The speaker recounts her obsession with nuclear history after learning about her mother's activism. She becomes deeply involved in researching and writing about nuclear issues, particularly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. She interviews mothers affected by the disaster and includes their stories in her work. The narrative emphasizes the global impact of environmental issues and the interconnectedness of activists worldwide. The speaker feels a sense of empowerment and a lifting of her eco grief as she sees the collective efforts of people across the globe working towards environmental justice.

15:03

🌍 A Call to Action in the Face of Environmental Crisis

The speaker acknowledges the difficulty of facing the harsh realities of climate change, pollution, and extinction but urges the audience to feel the eco grief and be motivated to act. She shares her own journey from ignorance to awareness and activism, using her personal transformation as an example of how engaging with these issues can lead to positive change. The speaker ends with a call to join the movement to protect the environment and all living beings on Earth.

Keywords

💡Cancer

Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. In the video, the narrator's personal journey with cancer, specifically Hodgkin's disease, serves as a catalyst for her exploration of environmental factors contributing to the disease. The family history of cancer further emphasizes the urgency of understanding its causes.

💡Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to treat cancer. It is often associated with harsh side effects. The script describes the narrator's experience with chemotherapy as 'brutal,' highlighting the physical and emotional toll it takes on patients, and how it reduced her chances of having children by 50%.

💡Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution refers to the introduction of harmful substances or products into the environment. The video connects pollution to the rise in cancer rates, suggesting a link between synthetic chemicals, radiation, and the increase in cancer diagnoses, including childhood cancers.

💡Eco Grief

Eco grief is a term used to describe the profound sadness one feels when confronted with the loss and damage to the environment and ecosystems. The narrator experiences eco grief upon realizing the pervasiveness of pollution and its impact on unborn children, which is a central theme in her call to action.

💡Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and conservationist whose work is mentioned in the video. She is known for 'Silent Spring,' a book that raised awareness of the environmental impact of pesticides. Her research symbolizes the beginning of modern environmentalism and inspires the narrator's own investigations.

💡Infertility

Infertility is the inability to conceive children after a year of unprotected sex. The video discusses the narrator's struggle with infertility following chemotherapy, which is a common side effect of the treatment. Her eventual pregnancy becomes a symbol of hope and personal victory.

💡Organic Food

Organic food is produced without the use of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers. The narrator mentions consuming organic food as part of her efforts to avoid toxic exposure, illustrating the individual actions people take to mitigate the effects of environmental pollution.

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. It is mentioned alongside other environmental issues as a significant global challenge. The video implies that climate change, like pollution, has far-reaching impacts on ecosystems and human health.

💡Nuclear History

Nuclear history encompasses the development and use of nuclear technology, including weapons and power. The narrator's discovery of her mother's involvement in the Women's Strike for Peace, which advocated for a ban on nuclear testing, integrates nuclear history into her personal narrative and activism.

💡Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism is a feminist movement that connects the oppression of women with the oppression of the environment. The narrator teaches a class on ecofeminism, exploring the role of women in environmental activism and how gender intersects with ecological issues.

💡Superfund

The Superfund program is a US federal program designed to clean up abandoned and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The script references Superfund sites as an example of environmental pollution and the ongoing struggle to remediate contaminated areas.

Highlights

At age 35, the speaker was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, following her parents' deaths from cancer.

Chemotherapy reduced the speaker's chances of having children by 50%.

The speaker's research into environmental causes of cancer led her to read works by Rachel Carson, Theo Colburn, and Alice Stewart.

One in four men and one in five women will develop cancer in their lifetimes.

Childhood cancers have increased since the 1950s due to environmental pollution.

The speaker's oncologist confirmed seeing more cancer cases and linked it to environmental pollution.

After chemotherapy, the speaker worked with an infertility specialist and successfully got pregnant.

Reading 'A Civil Action' during pregnancy led to a panic about the impact of environmental toxins on her unborn child.

The realization that pollution crosses the placenta and babies are born with chemicals in their bodies.

The speaker's eco grief and subsequent activism were inspired by women environmental activists like Rachel Carson and Vandana Shiva.

The speaker's mother was involved in the Women's Strike for Peace, which influenced the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The speaker's eco grief was lifted by learning about her mother's activism and the power of collective action.

The speaker's work in ecofeminism and her book include stories of mothers affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of keeping 'blinders' open to environmental issues to drive action.

The speaker calls for a moment of grief to motivate collective action on climate change and pollution.

Transcripts

so when I was 35 my life completely

changed I was diagnosed with cancer

Hodgkin's disease but not only that my

mother had died the year before with

cancer lymphoma and five years before

that my father had died with a brain

cancer a metastasis from melanoma so you

can imagine I was devastated and reeling

but more than that I was 35 and I hadn't

yet had children and I really really

wanted to be a mom and the chemo that I

would undergo would reduce my chances of

having children by 50% and given my age

I felt pretty doubtful about it and I

was really really upset so whether I

would survive or have children I was

just devastated three cancers and a

family of five I couldn't understand it

so I went through the chemo and let me

tell you it was brutal and while I was

going through it I'm a researcher so I

wanted to understand what were the

reasons for this cancer in my family

what was going on so I read a lot I read

Rachel Carson and her work on DDT in

which she looked at the connections

between chemicals synthetic chemicals

and cancer

I read the work of Theo Colburn who also

looked at chemicals and the connections

to cancer and I read the work of Alice

Stewart who in the 1950s did this study

and she found that one single x-ray to

the womb doubled that child's chances of

developing cancer I also found out some

interesting things I found out that one

in four men will get cancer in their

lifetimes one in five women and I

found that childhood cancers which were

practically non-existent before the

1950s when we started using all these

chemicals and radiation and polluting

our environment it didn't exist but then

suddenly it spiked and today second

accidents it's the leading cause of

death and children nearly 16,000

children will be diagnosed with cancer

every year so I'd go into my

chemotherapy treatments armed with all

this information and lots of questions

and I would ask my oncologist are you

seeing more cancer over the years and he

would say yes and I asked him do you

think it's related to environmental

pollution and he would say yes so I

finished the chemo and my cancer went

into remission and yes I'd have to go in

for appointments to be checked and there

was a secondary cancer they had to worry

about from the chemo which was leukemia

so I was going in pretty often but I

still really really wanted to be a mom

it was what I wanted more than anything

in the whole world so for two years I

worked with an infertility specialist

and lo and behold I got pregnant and I

was thrilled my my daughter's father was

so happy and it was just a really joyous

time for us we could put some of that

grief behind us a bit and then one night

I was pretty pregnant and I was in bed

and there's a storm raging outside and

I'm reading a book called a civil action

by Jonathan Harr it's a story of a

childhood leukemia cluster in Woburn

Massachusetts now if anyone's pregnant

out there I recommend you do not read

this book not a good idea I went into

quite a panic as you can imagine I

literally threw the book across the room

I started crying and crying and wailing

because I realized no matter how good

I'd been and I was good I ate only

organic food I ate practically all vegan

I made sure that I use nothing toxic on

my body I had we had no cleaning

products in our house that were toxic we

were so careful or so we thought but in

that moment I realized there was no way

to keep these toxics out of my body

because scientists now know that

that stuff all that pollution it crosses

the placenta and babies today are born

with hundreds of chemicals in their

bodies so I'm weeping I'm crying I'm

wailing and not just for me but for

everybody because it wasn't about and it

isn't about my cancer or my family's

cancer or my baby

it's about all babies everywhere and

everyone because this is affecting

everybody an all biotic life and it's

not just chemicals and radiation its

climate change its natural disasters its

water issues its species extinction its

deforestation

I mean it's so vast and I felt so

overwhelmed with grief I felt what I now

call eco grief psychologists are even

recognizing this they call it ego grief

for all that tremendous sadness that

we're living with it I I found it

unbearable now I'm not one to sit and

grief for long I'm a doer anyone who

knows me knows this I'm a pretty busy

person so I got busy and I started

thinking about the women I studied when

I was sick Rachel Carson the mother of

the American environmental movement

right Lois Gibbs a housewife who's

called the mother of the Superfund Act

because she found toxic hazardous

chemicals in it and Love Canal and she

fought with other and mothers and other

activists and this led to the Superfund

Act so now places are required to clean

this up the EPA goes after them it's an

act

I found one Gauri Maathai a Nobel Peace

Prize winner from Kenya who has

reforested she's passed away now but

she's a Nobel Peace Prize winner and she

has a she had a movement and has a

movement it's still active called the

green belt movement reforesting

tremendously all over Africa and an

inspiration to others around the world

I found Vandana Shiva a seeds rights

activist and a water activist and an

activist for farmers in India I found

Petra Kelly the co-founder of Germany's

Green Party movement we'll look at

Germany right now it's a leader in green

activism and renewable energy it's a

country that's really at the

forefront of where we need to go for

climate abatement so I found lists and

lists of these women

Peggy Shepard who's in New York City

working really hard to protect black

children from environmental pollution so

many women I couldn't possibly list them

all now

well this information was so empowering

to me it really helped me lift that Eco

grief and then I started to teach a

class called eco feminism and in this

class we looked at these women and we

looked at the issues going on in our

environment and the different ways that

they acted if it looked at the science

we looked at the literature and I

started to write about it well my

daughter's now nine years old and we go

into New York City I live in Long Island

we go into New York City and we have

lunch with an old family friend of my

mother's Phyllis and we're sitting in a

restaurant and its really really noisy

and there's my healthy daughters 9 and

we're all having a nice conversation

family family gathering and Phyllis says

to me so Heidi what are you working on

these days and I said ecofeminism and

she said ecofeminism well you must know

that story about myself and sow our

other family friend and your mother

woman's strike for peace women strike

for peace now I'd never heard of this

and I certainly didn't know this story

but my mother and her friends let me

step back a minute now my mother in my

mind was pretty much you know your

typical 1950s housewife I mean yeah she

did a few things but she was this

brilliant woman who didn't live up to

her potential so I thought she was under

my dad's shadow and she raised the kids

and that's the way women were then and I

kind of felt bad for her so Phyllis goes

on to tell me in the 1950s there was a

nuclear arms race between the US and the

USSR and these countries and others were

detonating nuclear bombs above-ground

nuclear test bombs and right here in the

US they detonated hundreds and hundreds

of them in the Nevada desert and

radiation was spreading clear across the

u.s. it didn't just stay in Nevada and

some

that radiation was strontium 90

strontium 90 was getting into children's

bodies it acts like calcium in the body

the body thinks it's calcium so there

was a study called the st. Louis baby

tooth study and these scientists

gathered baby teeth from all over and

they did find in fact that there were

strontium 90 in this baby in the baby

teeth so mother's organized across the

u.s. 50,000 of them now remember this is

the time before social media before

Facebook before Twitter even making a

long-distance phone call was a big deal

so that 50,000 women could organize

across the country in this grassroots

way was pretty phenomenal and the head

of this organization was Dagmar Wilson a

very good friend of my mother's friends

and Bella Abzug the future congresswoman

they organized and they organized

something called women's strike for

peace lobbying day and 15,000 of them

went to Washington and they lobbied and

they marched and they talked to their

senators and they it was an amazing

amazing thing well three of those 15,000

was my mother and her friends they left

their kids at home not done in those

days to leave the kids with the dad to

take care of and they took the train and

they went and they marched and they

lobbied well guess what the result of

this was the partial nuclear test ban

treaty in 1963 the USSR was on it

the US was on it and England this blew

my mind when Phyllis told me this story

I got chills it was if the whole

restaurant went quiet all I could see

was my mother and her friends and these

women and what they've done and I

couldn't believe it

my mother had done this and what an

amazing thing to do think about it all

that radiation no longer spreading

across the planet for all these years

what an incredible feat mothers mostly

stay-at-home white middle class mothers

organized this movement I felt myself

healed

I felt that eco grief lifts

of me it was just an amazing moment I

can't even tell you so now I go home and

I am obsessed with nuclear history okay

I was writing this book on ecofeminism

and suddenly now I have to include

nuclear history in it I didn't even know

of this piece of it so I'm watching

every film probably that's ever been

made since 1945 on nuclear history

rethink everything I can

I am deeply immersed in it it's deep of

winter it's dark out I wake up and I'd

look up in the afternoon at mists

picking my daughter at the school bus

because I was so obsessed with this

information and guess what three nuclear

meltdowns and Fukushima nuclear power

plant meltdowns

well I'm riveted um I couldn't believe

it

and I kind of could go there were a lot

of things that suggested Japan's very

seismically active place not necessarily

the best place to put a nuclear power

plant and I'm watching I'm watching the

stories and a few months later a group

of mothers comes to New York City to

speak about what's going on in Japan and

the issues with their families and the

children and their concerns and I went

into New York to hear their talks and I

heard unbelievably heartbreaking talks

one mother

Sachiko Sato an organic farmer six

children had to whisk her children in

the night from their farm big family

farm this is her life school on the

property teaching kids for ever gone

can't go back there

the kids her children spoke they told

their stories how hard it was to never

go back home to not be at school to not

be with her friends to lose their

bedrooms so I heard these stories and I

became really really taken with them and

I began including them in my book and

writing about them in other places and

recording them and after they left I

continued this recording and talking and

interviewing through Skype and in one of

my Skype interviews with Aileen me OCO

Smith who's a leading green activist in

Japan who's been working on this issue

and anti-nuclear issues for many many

years she's the author or co-author of

the Minamata book and had gone and

interviewed people at the Three Mile

Island after the partial nuclear

meltdown there and she came back to

Japan and she became active

in the 80s and she told me in all these

years she's been going around talking to

women's groups and every time she does

she says if women strike for peace could

do it we can well I again I I can't

believe this are the chills are up and

down my body I I'm just overwhelmed

I again that eco grief is just lifting

and I see this connection between my

mother and all the mothers here and all

the women doing all this work around the

world and I see it clear across to Japan

and I feel these women's arms linking

and men to because lots of men are

involved with this work

linking linking across Asia India Europe

South America u.s. South Pacific

Australia all the countries in the world

with all the amazing women and men doing

this work and I felt the power of these

stories and the retelling of these

stories and how important it is for us

to know them and to see the incredible

things they've done and are continuing

to do and how they pass these stories

down now I want to say something for a

minute I'm sure you're feeling like I

you know I don't want to hear about

climate change and pollution and cancer

and you've got your blinders on and you

would just like me to stop right now I

know a lot of people feel that way about

all these problems but remember I

understand

I had my blinders on to when I got

pregnant I knew about all the chemicals

around us I already knew there were 254

Superfund sites where I lived and all

the chemicals leaking and leaching and I

knew all about the 70,000 plus spills

I knew all about the plumes I knew all

of that and I didn't want to think about

it I just wanted to be a mom I just

wanted to have a good pregnancy and

enjoy my life a little bit and not be

worried all the time but I read that

book I read a civil action and the

blinders flew open and I couldn't close

them and then I felt eco grief and it

hurt and it was hard and I did

and I did cry and it was difficult but

it led to something else it led to a

call to action it led to actually

lifting that Eco grief I want to ask you

for just one moment because I know you

feel it

I know as closed as you might be and

don't want to know there are those

moments when you see that image of that

polar bear on a little piece of ice and

you hear the tick tick tick of the clock

and you know you know there's not much

time and when you hear about the the

rhinoceros no more they're just about

extinct and elephants look what's

happening to them

lions are about to be extinct I know you

feel heartbreak it's impossible not to

and you might shut it down but deep down

you feel that heartbreak so I'm gonna

ask you for just a moment try to leave

those blinders open just try and feel

that grief feel it because when you do

you will be called to act and then you

will join us and then we will fix this

thing thank you