By Bayo Akomolafe, via his blog

“It comes down to how we think about nature – whether it is the nature of women, the nature of men, or the nature of nature. The history of the world is the history of attempts to stabilize nature, to pin it down, to put it in the family way. Once ‘black’ people were ‘naturalized’ as ‘genetically inferior’ or ‘less intelligent’ by virtue of the sizes of their skulls, it was easy (and even commendable) to justify the institution of slavery. Even the great emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, reportedly said, “I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” A stabilizing practice of ‘nature’ is always mobilized in order to perpetuate exploitation and domination.

A religio-scientific sexism of sorts has also been used to justify why ‘women’ (notice how even the term presupposes a homogeneous, monolithic group) are inferior to men. From the story of Eve being taken from Adam’s side (a seemingly obvious figuration of her subservience), to the Darwinian idea that men were exposed to more selective pressures and thus more superior in cognitive and physical capacity, gender oppression has found different performances of ‘nature’ to justify its existence.”