Landscape The Social Construction Of Nature And The Environment Analysis

In Greider and Garkovich’s piece, “Landscapes: The Social Construction of Nature and the Environment”, they write, “Some cultural ecologists argue that nature and the environment are givens and that different cultural groups simply adapt to that environment” (Greider 4). The landscape, culture, and social expectations placed on an individual will present opportunities and limitations that will be the most defining factor in shaping their character. Colton H. Bryant was defined by Wyoming, much like Henrietta Lacks and her family were shaped by the early 1900’s, and Sarah Anne was constrained by society’s expectations. Whether it is a character in a book or a person in the real world, the landscape they’re placed in will dictate how the story …show more content…
In the early 1900’s, the Lackses, African Americans, grew up in a culture filled with racism. The color of her skin governed what she was allowed to do and how she was treated, equating to who she allowed herself to be. This time period also limited Henrietta and her family’s opportunities to become educated. “Day wouldn’t have understood the concept of immortal cells or HLA markers coming from anyone, accent or not – he’d only gone to school for four years of his life, and he’d never studied science” (Skloot 183). If Day, Henrietta’s husband, had been raised in a different culture that more strongly valued education, his understanding of what happened to his wife and how it impacted the world could have lead to his character being much different than the version of him in his landscape in …show more content…
In the beginning of Andrea Barrett’s story “Rare Bird”, Sarah Anne lives under the restrictions on women of the time, hiding her knowledge. “She’s careful not to betray in public those subjects she knows more thoroughly than Christopher.” (Barrett 61). If she forgets these assumptions of how she should present herself, her brother is quick to remind her. This notion leads her to believe that the education she’s received doesn’t actually count. Sarah Anne’s character is built, though, on how she works around her social expectations. After writing a letter, she signs it “S.A. Billopp”, so that she will be taken seriously by Linnaeus (Barrett 65). The time period Sarah Anne is placed in includes the social expectation that women couldn’t be a part of academic conversations, defining her actions and forcing her to mislead Linnaeus with her signature. After being ignored anyway, Sarah Anne and another educated woman, Mrs. Pearce, go against the common expectations of women and disprove Linnaeus in a scientific experiment. These examples show how Sarah Anne developed from a woman holding her tongue because she was supposed to, to an independently thinking woman. Her responses to society’s expectations were what made her