Hello everyone! My name is Lizzy and this is my first course in women’s gender studies. I feel like I’m a little late to the game because most of what I know about feminism, or ecofeminism, I’ve learned from a few media sources but I don’t feel like I’ve truly done my duty as a woman, if that makes sense. I know I am capable of more and should know more about issues that will impact me but it’s hard to take a step out of my bubble and see things for the nasty, vile truth that they really are.
I am in my junior year working towards my Bachelor’s in English Literature. Upon completion of my degree I hope to go into the teaching field and work with high school juniors and seniors. Outside of my love for English, I am very passionate about our oceans and the life within it. I run a small activist page on Instagram, hoping to inform others of the current issues with the oceans and specifically sharks.
In developing my love for sharks, sharing as much information with others as I could, I fell quickly into the realm of activism and began to learn more about basic human rights. After doing more research on some feminist blog sites, Bitch Media stood out to me the most because they discuss all types of topics from political issues, to climate change, to feminist culture. After skimming a few articles, I’ve gathered that they simply state the fact and I can see the passion and fire behind each article. My writing, especially around topics I care about, share this same fervor. I want to be able to give as much plain fact as I can and end with something that pulls at the heartstrings, or gets the reader thinking. In any writing I do, I try to frame it as a conversation. How can I show my side of the story and leave the reader with more to think about? I hope the following can answer this question.
The ocean has always been a place where I can reset my life and find comfort. I remember being very young and watching Shark Week with my dad and immediately falling in love with these apex predators. I know what you’re thinking, “sharks eat people” and “they’re so scary”. While yes, these creatures may seem horrifying to most, statistics and other scientific studies have shown that sharks do not like to eat people. Of the 73 unprovoked bites that occurred in 2021, only 9 were fatal. Nine.
Greenpeace has estimated that roughly 100 million sharks are killed every year. Shark fin soup is often to blame when we hear these numbers but that is only a small portion of profit for these black-market companies. Some sharks are only killed based on a fear factor or prize of saying “I killed the apex predator of the ocean”. The larger majority of sharks are hunted and poached for their cartilaginous (cartilage) and oils.
To those who wear makeup, or use any other cosmetic products, check your ingredient lists! Squalane, or squalene, is an oil derived from shark liver. It can be found most often in anti-ageing products but is also used in various other creams, moisturizers, and cosmetics. Sharks are needed in our oceans. An estimated 70% of their population has declined in the last 50 years, and these numbers are only going to grow.
By the year 2040 there is a huge change that they may go extinct. These animals help control the population of other fish in the ocean, and are solely responsible for keeping our entire ecosystem alive. Without them the world is going to collapse. Do you remember the cycle charts we all learned about in our basic science courses in grade school? Small animal eats the grass, a larger animal eats the small one, and so on. It is part of nature and everything has a precise balance that keeps the Earth in order. If one thing goes out of balance then everything else follows. We must do what we can to protect our oceans and value the life within them as these things have the power to change the balance of our lives.
For more information about some of the statistics, check out these two sites.
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/